Ellie's Tale
by Roronoa Senshi
Summary: Young Ellie Blood is summoned to Wizard City as its supposed "savior", but despite being from Earth, she is naturally adept at magic, and seems reluctant to stay. What is the young Necromancer hiding, and what could it mean for the safety of the known realms.
1. Prologue

Elaina Blood and her husband Jason sat in the doctor's office. Tears were streaming down her face and her husband held her. The doctor had just confirmed their worst fears.

"I'm sorry." He said. "But I am afraid that you are unable to have children."

Mrs. Blood started crying harder. All she had ever wanted was a child of her own, and now it seemed like she would never have one. She continued to sob and her husband led her out of the office, and back into the crisp breeze of the late October evening.

"J-Jason?" she sobbed. "W-what are we going to do?"

For once, he was without a reply. He just held his wife as the cold wind gently blew around them.

"I wish I knew."

Suddenly, the wind began to pick up, blowing their coats up and their hair around. The wind swirled around the door to the office they had just come from, and it began to glow with a pale blue light. The Bloods turned towards it as it swung open, and something came out.

No, not a something. A someone. A little girl, no more than five years old stumbled through the door, falling to the ground. The glow died away and with it, the wind. The Bloods looked down at the unconscious girl. Elaina bent down and scooped her up. The girl squirmed in her arms, gently cuddling up against the woman.

"Jason…" she said in a low whisper. "Who is she?"


	2. Orientation

18 year old Ellie Blood got up slowly, looking around her bedroom. Her room, usually covered in photos, rock posters, and personal drawings, was barren. She climbed out of bed, and looked over at her suit cases and boxes stacked in the corner.

Today was the day.

She ran a brush through her black hair, and grabbed her clothes off of the top of her now empty dresser. She pulled on her long sleeve red shirt, followed by her black band tee shirt. She pulled on her black skin tight jeans, followed by her favorite boots. As she finished, there was a knock on her door.

"Come in."

The door opened and her parents walked in.

"Morning Ellie." Her mom said with a smile.

"Morning mom."

"You excited?" her dad asked.

"Who wouldn't be?" Ellie replied. "I'm going to college. The first Blood to go to college."

Her parents both smiled.

"We're so proud of you Ellie." Her mom said.

"Thanks mom."

Later, after a large breakfast, and loading up all of her boxes into the back of the old minivan, Ellie turned and hugged her mother tightly.

"I love you mom." She said with a smile.

"I love you too sweetheart." Her mom replied.

She released her mom and turned to her dad, giving him a hug as well.

"Good luck Elle." He said.

Finally letting go of her parents, she got in the car and drove off.

…..

"Gamma. Come quickly. I think I've got it this time."

Merle Ambrose stood over a crystal ball, gazing deep into it. Gamma the owl flew over, landing on his usual perch.

"What is it?" Gamma asked.

"I have been searching my crystal ball for weeks now, hoping to find a wizard strong enough to save Wizard city, and I do believe I've found her." Ambrose Explained.

"Her?" Gamma asked.

"Yes. A young wizard hidden in a very distant realm." He squinted into the glass. "Goodness. A realm that does not even believe in magic."

"Whoooo"

Ambrose closed his eyes and focused on the ball.

"Let's see if I can bring her to us."

…..

Ellie pulled over at a truck stop to grab a snack. She was starving, and at that moment, a chocolate bar and a soda sounded so good right now. As she walked up to the convenience store, the wind began to pick up and swirl around her. She looked at the wind, then very slowly turned to the convenience store door.

It was glowing.

"Oh no…"

Ellie turned to run away, but the wind picked up and began to pull her towards the door, which began to open. The wind picked her up off of the ground and soon, she was pushed through the glowing door, and straight into Ambrose's office.

"It worked Gamma." He said with a childish glee.

Ellie looked up at the portal, which was slowly closing. She attempted to stand up, to go back through the portal but her head was swimming. Eventually, she just closed her eyes and passed out.

"Oh dear." Gamma said. "The poor girl fainted."

Ambrose walked over and stood over the girl. He bent down and scooped her up.

"It appears that this girl suffers from Spiral Sickness."

Spiral sickness was a rare disorder found sporadically through the spiral. A person's body could not properly travel through the spiral, and when they got back through, things tended to be out of place, and the victim would pass out while their bodies righted themselves again. Luckily, it only happened once, when someone traveled to a new realm for the first time.

"We'll let her rest here on the futon until she recovers."

Ambrose put the girl down on the small futon, pulling his spare robe over her as a blanket, then settled in to wait.

…..

Ellie slowly woke up, sitting up even slower. Her head was still swimming, and she groaned.

"Mom… did you get the license number of that bus?"

She blinked, then looked around. This wasn't her home. In fact, it wasn't anywhere close to her home.

"Oh good. You're awake."

Ellie turned to see an old man with an incredibly long white beard, dressed in a purple robe, as well as a long purple hat. She blinked, then scrambled to her feet.

"No no no. This cannot be happening." Ellie said, appearing to panic.

"Please calm down, young one. I will not hurt you."

"I don't care. Send me home. Now." Ellie said at a near shout.

"Please dear. Let me explain-"

"Look." Ellie said, interrupting him. "I don't care why you brought me here, who you think I am, or what you think I am, but I cannot BE here. So please, send me home!"

"My dear, do you even know where here is?"

"Wizard City. Ravenwood School of Magic." She said in irritation.

Ambrose blinked.

"You know about this place?"

"Trust me, I know a lot about this place, but what you DON'T know is that I left here for a REASON!"

"Left here?" Gamma asked. "Yooou've been here before?"

Ellie immediately face palmed. She'd revealed too much.

"Look. Long story short, I don't belong here. It' too dangerous. Just please, send me back to Earth and forget you ever-"

Suddenly, lightning struck outside. The window, which had once been bright and cheery became dark and disturbing as a storm began to brew. A figure then walked past the window.

"Whoooo!?" Gamma exclaimed.

"How odd…." Ambrose said.

Ellie looked out the window.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"Hmm. I have my suspicions, but there is only one way to be sure."

He picked up his staff, which had been floating there next to him the whole time, and began to walk toward the door. Ellie, not wanting to risk losing her only way home, quickly scrambled to her feet and followed.

Ambrose followed the strange figure into Golem Court, and then entered Golem Tower. Ellie followed behind, keeping a safe distance just in case. She poked her head through the door to see Ambrose addressing someone.

"Who goes…? Malistaire!"

The figure emerged from the shadows to glare at Ambrose. He was tall and sickly pale, with eyes that seemed to glow. His long hair was unnaturally black, and he had a severe widow's peak. He wore dark black robes with gold trimmings, and when he spoke, he sounded… dark.

"Ambrose…" he sneered.

"You are no longer welcome here." Ambrose declared, pointing his staff at the dark mage. "Why have you returned?"

"I am here to resolve our unfinished business. And now that I have what I came for, I-"

Suddenly, Ellie felt four clawed hands grab her, throwing her into the room.

"Ack!" she exclaimed as she fell, right next to Ambrose.

"Ellie!" Ambrose exclaimed.

"Massster" a draconian (humanoid dragon) hissed. "We've sssssmelled thissss one lurking on the sssstairssss"

"Is this your latest student?" Malistaire asked. "My henchmen will see to her."

Ellie looked up to see two draconians moving closer towards her. Scrambling to her feet, she turned to Ambrose.

"Sorry about this."

She snatched up his staff and the second she touched it, the red crystal at the top turned black. She gathered her energy instinctively and then swung the staff like a bat. A wave of black energy quickly spread from the staff and blasted the two draconians. They hissed, but quickly got back up. They surrounded her and one launched at her back, raking its claws at her. She spun and struck with a bolt of black lightning, and managed to get away with only a slight scratch on her face.

"Ouch." She seethed as she touched her face, blood welling up on the cuts.

Sensing her pain, the tip turned green and a wave of energy washed over her. The cuts closed and healed over until not a scratch was left. She returned her focus to the battle, watching the draconians circle her again. Taking a deep breath, she embedded the staff in the ground and a wave of blackness washed over the draconians. They hissed and screamed as they began to wither and turn to dust. Soon, all that was left was a pile of dust, bones, and clothes.

"Take that you…."

Ellie suddenly got dizzy and fell to her knees, leaning heavily on Ambrose's staff.

"Excellent work Miss Blood." Ambrose said, gently taking her arm.

"Ha." Malistaire sneered. "A lucky break. Be grateful that I have no further use of this retched place. I shall take my leave, and let you two doddering fools live for another day."

In a flash of dark energy, he was gone. Ambrose scooped up Ellie, leaning her against the wall.

"How did you do that?"

Ellie, who saw still weak from the fight, just shrugged.

"I don't know. I just… did."

Ambrose picked up his staff, and the tip turned red once more at his touch. As he looked down at the dust covered bones, he spoke up.

"At least this saves me the trouble of having you take the Book of Secrets test. It's obvious that you are a Necromancer."

Ellie groaned slightly, but not from pain. This time, it was annoyance.

"Please, Professor Ambrose. You need to understand I can't stay here."

"I understand that." He replied. "All I ask is that you hear me out."

Ellie sighed. She was still too weak, and was obviously not going anywhere. Might as well.

"I have been scouring the spiral, searching every remote corner of the worlds, hoping to find someone with the power to save Wizard City."

"And you found me?"

"Yes." Ambrose replied. "You have stronger magic than any student I have taught before. And with practice, it will only get stronger."

Ellie looked down at her hands.

"You said that you left here for a reason. Was that reason, perhaps, that you were afraid of your powers?"

Ellie looked up into Ambrose's eyes, then back down at her hands.

"With practice, I am sure that you can eliminate that fear."

Ellie stared at her hands, and the tiny black sparks that danced in between her fingertips. Finally, she sighed.

"There's nobody else that can save the Spiral is there?"

Ambrose shook his head. Ellie clenched her fists and looked up.

"Alright… I'll stay."


	3. Something Wicked on Unicorn Way

Later that day, Ellie was moving into her new dorm room. Somehow, all of the stuff that had been in her car when she'd gone through the makeshift Spiral Gate was waiting for her. She even found her car shrunk down and waiting for her. She unpacked, pasting her posters on the wall, unrolling her old bedspread, and even setting up a desk for her to work at. She set down the books the headmaster had provided, as well as her own wand. It was strange holding one after so long, but she knew that in time, the strangeness would pass.

She settled down on her bed, staring up at the spiraling ceiling. So much was different now. She was no longer Ellie Blood, college student; she was Ellie Blood, Novice Necromancer.

That thought made her perk up. Her mother was waiting for her to call. She had no idea what time it was on Earth. She never kept a watch on her, and her cellphone didn't work out here.

Not wanting her mom to worry, she decided to ask Ambrose. She left her dorm and walked down the bright streets towards the Headmaster's building.

"Headmaster?" she asked as she entered.

Ambrose looked up from his desk, and all the paperwork strewn over it.

"Yes my dear?"

"Do you have a way for me to contact my mom?" she asked. "I don't want her to be worried about me."

"Of course young wizard." He said, standing up. "Use my crystal ball. Just picture your mother, and it will call her."

"It won't do anything weird will it?"

"Certainly not. I have already tried it. I called your parents to inform them of your transfer here, thought I distinctly left out the bit about evil sorcerers and magic."

Ellie breathed a sigh of relief. That saved her an awkward conversation.

She placed her hands on either side of the crystal ball, picturing her mother's face. There was a distant ringing sound, then her mother began to appear in the crystal as she answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey mom."

"Ellie! Hello." Her mom said, her elation prominent in her voice. "How are you doing?"

"I'm alright." She replied.

"I heard about your last minute transfer. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm good. I just got a call while I was on the road with an offer I couldn't refuse."

It wasn't the truth, but it also wasn't a total lie.

"Well congratulations. I hope everything works out for you. Stay safe."

At that, Ellie's thoughts went straight to Malistaire, and the fact that she had almost died.

"Heh… I'll try mom. I love you."

"Love you too dear."

Ellie hung up, and no sooner had she done that, a man ran into the office. He was wearing knight's armor with the Ravenwood crest on the front. He must have been part of Ravenwood's private guard.

"Private Stillson!" The headmaster exclaimed. "Whatever is the matter?"

"Sir, we have a problem." He replied breathlessly. "The undead… they're everywhere."

"What do you mean?" the Headmaster asked.

"Lost souls, skeletal pirates, and Spiral knows what else. They've overrun Unicorn Way."

"Oh dear." Ambrose said with a worried tone.

"We need back-up. Magical back-up."

"I'm afraid I don't have any wizards to spare. Perhaps Miss blood here can-"

He stopped and looked where Ellie had been standing. She was gone, and the door was slightly ajar.

…..

"Unicorn Way, Unicorn way, Unicorn way. Oh why didn't I grab a map?"

Ellie ran down the streets, looking for a sign for Unicorn way. Luckily, she soon stumbled upon a large archway with the words UNICORN WAY engraved above it.

"Perfect."

She ran through the archway tunnel until she emerged onto the large open pavilion. It was green and appeared to be full of life. However, as she turned to corner onto the actual street, she quickly ducked back behind.

"Private Stillson wasn't kidding. This place has a serious undead problem."

Large ghosts that appeared as nothing more than moving cloaks were floating around aimlessly. She knew on instinct that if she got too close, they would attack. They were nothing more that ethereal animals.

"There's got to be something I can do."

Closing her eyes, she focused on her wand. The tip began to glow with the same black energy from Golem Tower. It wasn't as large, but she knew better to try and gather more power. She was still a novice, and only had limited power. If she used too much at once, she'd run out of mana and begin to pull from her own life force.

"Let's hope this is enough."

She walked into the streets, right into the path of several ghosts.

"Come and get me ecto-freaks!"

The ghosts all moaned and began to swarm at her. Smiling, she gathered the energy again, flicking it at one of the ghosts. It was immediately sucked it with a barely audible pop. In quick succession, she did it again and again, and after several ghosts were sucked into her little globes of death, she tucked her wand away triumphantly.

"Good job." Someone called.

Ellie turned to see a boy dressed in green robes standing on the sidewalk.

"When did you get here?" she asked.

"Not long after you." He replied. "I'm Ceren Nightchant."

"Ellie Blood."

Ceren bowed.

"Nice to meet you."

"Why are you hear Ceren?"

"Professor Moolinda Mu sent me. We'd received word that something was going on with the fairies here."

"What do you mean?"

"That's it, we don't know."

"Can't you check it out?"

"I would, but Private Connelly won't let me out on the street. But they haven't stopped you yet."

"That's 'cause they haven't seen me yet."

"Then maybe you can give me a hand. Just go down the street on the right and see if the fairies are okay."

"No problem."

Ellie ran down the sidewalk quickly, edging around the undead, trying not to get noticed… yet. However, as she turned a corner, she was surprised at what she saw.

There were fairies all right, but there had black hair and wore purple clothing. More than that, she could feel that something was off about them, like something had… corrupted them.

Unfortunately, as she went to get a closer look, they noticed her, and swarmed in like a hoard of angry bees.

"Uh oh."

Thinking fast, she quickly began to blast them with her wand. These dark fairies were stronger than the ghosts, and she had to use a little bit more power, but she succeeded in fending them off. A few that she actually managed to defeat fell to the ground unconscious while their sisters fled. Ellie looked down at the unconscious fairies, waiting for them to change back into whatever their normal state was.

They didn't change.

"Ceren's not gonna like this."

Sure enough, she was right.

"I was afraid of this." He said after she'd explained the problem. "Something evil is afoot here."

"No kidding." Ellie replied. "There's got to be something we can do… or someone who can help us figure out what's going on."

Ceren thought for a moment, then perked up.

"Lady Oriel."

"Who?"

"Lady Oriel. She's a seraph, and the supposed Fairy Queen. If you talk to her, maybe she can give us some clue as to what's going on."

"Alright. Where can I find her?"

"The Hedge Maze." He replied. "Just follow the road. You can't miss it."

Ellie took off once again, and this time, both Lost Souls and Dark Fairies avoided her. Thanks to that, she reached the hedge maze in no time flat.

She gently opened the gates, and was greeted by a group of blonde fairies dressed in green dresses. She could hear them whispering in their high voices, and after a moment, they began to shower her in light green dust, which settled on her, healing the small wounds that she had not even noticed.

"Thanks" Ellie replied.

"We should be thanking you." One replied.

"We saw you out there trying to help our fallen sisters." Another added.

"If you are here to help, then we're more than willing to help you." A third one concluded.

"If that's the case, can you take me to Lady Oriel?"

The fairies swirled around her some more, then began to dart through the maze, forming a trail of glittering dust for her to follow. After several twists and turns, she came to the center of the maze, where an angelic woman stood. She saw Ellie and smiled.

"Greetings, Wizard." She said in a voice as smooth as honey. "I thank you for coming to our aid in this dark time."

Ellie just shrugged.

"I wish I could help more, but without knowing what's going on, I have no way to reverse the effects."

"This is dire news indeed." Lady Oriel said with a tone of sadness. "If I could only get close to my fallen children, then maybe I could help."

Ellie thought for a second, then fished around in her backpack, pulling out a small sack bound with a drawstring.

"I don't know if this will help, but when I fought the dark fairies, they dropped a bunch of this purple dust. I scooped some up in hopes that it would help."

She held it out and Lady Oriel quickly took the bag.

"This is perfect."

She dumps out the contents into her hand and it swirls in the air. Lady Oriel mutters a few words and the swirling dust forms a shape.

The shape of a skull.

Lady Oriel gasps and the dust falls to the ground, she looks visibly shaken.

"Lady Oriel!" Ellie exclaims.

"My children…" she whispers. "Something of the undead holds them. How could such evil penetrate this sacred place?"

Ellie silently decided to keep the fact that she was a Necromancer to herself.

"Maybe one of the dark fairies can help to tell us who corrupted them?"

"No… I fear that they are beyond my reach…"

Ellie looked down for a moment. Then perked up again.

"Wait a minute… What about a fairy that is about to be corrupted?"

Lady Oriel looks up.

"What do you mean?"

The entire time I've been running around these streets, I've seen strange lanterns made of bone with glowing green lights… What if they aren't lanterns… but cages? Cages holding your fairies."

Lady Oriel blinked for a second, then she seemed to think.

"Of course…" she said. "Not only will you prevent more of my children from being taken, but they may be able to reveal the perpetrator."

"Then I guess my path is clear. I'm gonna go smash some bone cages."

…..

Ellie ran down the street, coming across several bone cages. Each time she saw one, she would blast it, disintegrating the cage, and leaving the fairy unharmed. She lost count of how many she smashes, but was happy that several normal fairies were flying around her.

"You guys alright?"

"We are now." One replied. "Thank you so much."

"Please take this as a token of our thanks."

The fairies swarmed around her wand each of them placing their hands on it. The tip began to glow green.

"Now, if you're ever in need of a small healing spell, one of us will be summoned to aid you."

"We know it's not much, but it's the least we could do."

"Thank you." Ellie said. "I can definitely use this."

The fairies all seemed to shimmer with delight. As they began to fly off, Ellie remembered.

"Wait." She called out. "One last thing."

The fairies turned to her.

"Do you remember who captured you?"

Several of the fairies look scared, and several dart off. However, a few remain. One flies up to Ellie's ear and whispers.

"It was a monster, a terrible creature that made a clacking sound whenever it moved. Please be careful, young wizard. Be careful."

The remaining fairies flew off, leaving Ellie with that only clue.

…..

"A monster that clacked?" Ceren asked.

"Yep. That's what the fairies said. A creature that made a clacking sound whenever it moved."

Ceren thought about that for a moment.

"You know… when I heard that the fairies had been corrupted, I would have thought a vengeful ghost would have done it. But if I'm right, then I think I know who's doing this. Rattlebones!"

"Rattlebones?"

"Yeah." Ceren explained. "I grew up here on Unicorn way, so I know all about this place. It's how I know about Rattlebones. He's taken over a tower not far from the hedge maze. I had hoped that we wouldn't have to deal with him. He's pretty strong and-"

"Where is this tower?"

Ceren paused.

"Wait… You're actually gonna go?"

"Yeah. If we stop this guy, then the effect of the fairies should go away, and with it, the other undead."

"But… he's incredibly dangerous. Do you really think that-?"

"Dude… I've been running up and down this street with corrupted fairies, lost souls, and who knows what else constantly trying to kill me. I think I'm way past thinking."

Before Ceren could argue any farther, Ellie just shook her head.

"Don't bother trying to talk me out of it. Just point me in the right direction."

Not seeing much of a choice, Ceren pointed towards a tower off in the distance and Ellie took off. She approached the tower cautiously. She peeked inside.

A large skeleton dressed on black armor was standing over what appeared to be a potion table, where ingredients were scattered upon. A few dark fairies also flitted about.

"At last." Rattlebones said with an evil chuckle. "Soon, all of Unicorn way will fall, and even Lady Oriel will fall to the power of my corruptive magic."

It was then that Ellie made her presence known.

"Knock knock. Special delivery for Rattlebones."

Rattlebones turned around, just as Ellie blasted him with a death blast. He was sent skidding a couple of feet, but nor more than a few.

"Who dares intrude upon my work?" he demanded.

"Ellie Blood, Undead exterminator. And I must say, you have quite the infestation."

Rattle bones launched at Ellie, brandishing a sword. She barely is able to get out of the way in time, and he catches her across the side.

"Gah!"

She looks to see her band shirt sliced, as well as the shirt underneath, and that the cut was already bleeding.

"These are my favorite shirts!"

"You'll lose more than that when I'm done with you."

He swung as her, aiming to cut off her head, but a quick shield is summoned, stopping the blade.

"Nice try Rattles, but I'm not going down that easily."

She blasts him again, striking him in the chest, but once again, all he does is skid back a bit as if he was pushed.

"Do you not yet understand?!" he howls. "You cannot defeat me! I will-"

"Oh shut up."

Ellie blasts him one more time, but this time, she aims for his eye, specifically, the single eyeball rolling around in its socket. While he is merely pushed, the eye disappears. Rattle bones howls in rage swinging wildly, but Ellie is able to avoid the blows easily, and is careful to not make a sound.

"YOU CANNOT STOP US WIZARD!" Rattlebones began yelling "THE CORRUPTION OF THE FAIRIES IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF MALISTAIRES PLANS! SOON ALL OF WIZARD CITY WILL FALL AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU, OR ANYONE CAN DO ABOUT IT!"

"For Pete sake, just shut up!"

Ellie struck quickly, ripping Rattlebones' skull from his spine and smashing it against the wall. He screamed and a wave of power was sent all throughout Unicorn Way. She could feel the undead being sent away, and the wave of corruption that had overtaken the fairies being lifted.

"Stupid skeleton."

She looked at the table of ingredients and blasted it, destroying it entirely. She then winced and looked at her side. The cut was deeper than she thought.

"Let's see if that spell works."

Focusing, Ellie summoned a single fairy. It smiled at her, then darted towards her wounded side. With a quick spell, the cut began to close and scab over, then turn into a scar.

"Thanks."

"No… Thank you. Now all of my sisters will sing again. We are all free thanks to you. Feel free to summon me whenever you need me."

She then vanished, leaving a cloud of green dust in her wake. Ellie smiled, then walked out of the tower.

…..

After receiving congratulations from Ceren, as well as Lady Oriel, Ellie made her way to the headmaster's office.

"Professor!"

Ambrose looked up, and the first thing he saw was the large rip in her shirt, as well as the blood that had stained the cloth.

"My word!" he exclaimed, jumping up and walking over to her.

"Don't worry." Ellie said while calmly holding up her hands. "The fairies healed me. Besides, it was just a scratch."

"What happened? Tell me everything."

Ellie explained about the undead, and went into detail about the dark fairies, and made sure to tell him exactly what Rattlebones had said.

"This does not bode well." Ambrose said with a shake of his head. "We'll have to remain on guard. I have a feeling that we have not seen the last of Malistaire's corruption."


	4. An Eye for Trouble

Ellie woke up slowly, sitting up in her bed. It took her a minute to get a bearing on her surroundings, but soon, the events of the previous day came back to her. She remembered being pulled through the portal, the epic fight with the draconians, and the entire episode on Unicorn Way.

"So… it wasn't just some really warped dream. "She got up and looked at her clothes. They were still ripped, and still covered in blood.

"Aww man… I'd forgotten about that."

Throwing on a random shirt, Ellie gathered her clothes and walked out of her dorm room.

"There's got to be someone who can clean these and mend them."

"Hey!"

Ellie turned to see a boy. He was tan and dressed in black robes, and carrying a staff with a skull.

"Hey there." She replied.

"You're the new girl right?" he asked. "The one who banished the undead on Unicorn Way?"

Ellie nodded.

"I'm Malorn Ashthorn." He said, sticking out his hand.

"Ellie Blood." She replied, taking his hand.

"You're a Necromancer." He said. "I can tell. Are you joining the death class?"

"I was going to, but there isn't one."

She was right. After the events on Unicorn Way, she had gone to the different schools in hopes of getting to know the teachers, not that she really expected to actually be going to any classes. While she had enjoyed getting to meet the other teachers, (except Cyrus Drake, the Myth Teacher. He creeped her out.) Where the Death School had been, there was nothing there but floating rubble.

"Technically no," Malorn said. "But I'm trying to change that. I meet with prospective Necromancers whenever I can to try and teach them what I know."

Ellie thought about it. The idea was intriguing. It would definitely do her some good to learn some more spells.

"Hmm… I'll think about it. In the meantime, where does a girl go to try and get some clothes clean and mended?"

"Go to the shopping district. The entrance is right next to Professor Ambrose's office. You can't miss it."

"Thanks."

Ellie walked off, heading straight to the Shopping district. There were several stores, each selling something different. Luckily, the robe shop was pretty easy to spot, and Victor Darkwood, the shop's keeper, was more than happy to help.

"Come back in an hour or so." He said.

As she left, Ellie heard a voice call her out.

"Excuse me."

She turned to see a knight dressed in golden armor. He walked towards her and stood at attention.

"My name is Sergeant Muldoon." He said, saluting. "Headmaster Ambrose told me to find you. I require your assistance."

Ellie nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"I've heard all about how strong you are." He explained. "A wizard of immense power, despite growing up in a magic-less realm."

"It's nothing big." Ellie said with a shrug. "All I did was smash a skull."

"Still, you made a big difference. Unfortunately, now that the undead have left Unicorn Way, they'll come to Olde Town next."

"Olde Town?" Ellie asked, cocking her head in confusion.

"It's the residential area of Wizard City." The sergeant explained. "From there, you can reach Firecat Alley, home of the Pyromancers; Triton Avenue, home of the Diviners; and Cyclops Lane, home of the Thaumaturges."

"So pretty much, Olde Town is the center of Wizard City almost." Ellie summarized

"Exactly." Muldoon confirmed.

"Then I can see why you're afraid of the undead coming there." Ellie said. "How can I help?"

"Make sure that the undead do not come here."

"How? I kind of destroyed all of the undead."

"Not all of them. There is a ghost that has been in Unicorn way for years. Lady Blackhope."

"Lady Blackhope?"

"Yes. She was a life student not too long ago. However, after the loss of the old life teacher, she committed suicide. She's haunted her old home for years."

"Then what should I do?" Ellie asked.

"Make sure she does not leave her tower. Seal her in."

"Oh really? Just seal her in? No problem. I'll be right back."

…..

About ten minutes later, the sergeant saw her walking back through the shopping district.

"Done." She said with a smirk.

"You sealed her in?"

"Not exactly. I exorcised her."

"You… exorcised her?"

"Yeah… She tried to kill me, stating that 'Meer Mortals Should Not Dwell in the Affairs of the Undead' so I kind of had to fight her and get rid of her. On the bright side, she's now resting in peace, and Unicorn way is officially Undead Free."

Sergeant Muldoon blinked.

"I can't believe it." He said. "Perhaps you can help me out then. I've gotten several requests for aid, but the guards are spread so thin, I don't know what to do."

"I'm game for whatever." Ellie said. "Where am I needed?"

Sergeant Muldoon thought for a moment, then it came to him.

"Cyclops Lane." He said. "Nolan Stormgate, a myth student, has been asking for help. He wouldn't explain why, only saying that it was urgent."

"I'm on it."

Ellie took off down the street towards Cyclops Lane.

…..

The first thing Ellie noticed about Cyclops Lane was that everything was yellow. She knew the Myth School's colors were yellow and blue, but this was a bit too yellow for her.

"Yikes." She said. "Sooo much yellow."

She walked down the street, towards what appeared to be a fairground.

"HEY!" someone shouted. "What are you doing here?"

Ellie looked to see a kid standing on a small stage, dressed in yellow robes complete with a hood.

"I take it you're Nolan?"

"Yeah, and who are you?"

"Ellie blood."

"A Necromancer I take it."

"Yeah." Ellie replied.

"Heh… You won't last long here. All death wizards are bad. Just look at our old Death Teacher."

Ellie clenched her fist. She knew that Necromancy always got a bad rap, but this guy was seriously grating her nerves.

"Look. Sergeant Muldoon sent me to help you, so if you want my help, let me know."

Nolan seemed to think about it, then he shrugged.

"Alright. If you _really _want to help, go into the dark cave and find me a Runed skull."

"What? Why?"

"Professor Drake wants me to collect all of the undead relics that have begun to resurface from the old Death School. Besides, it might give you a chance to put your skills to good use for once."

Ellie opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed her mouth. She knew that if she said what she wanted to say, she would most likely end up blasting this guy, something she could not afford at the moment.

"Be right back." She said with clenched teeth.

…

A few minutes later, a Runed skull was thrown at the back of Nolan's head.

"OW!" he cried out, turning around "What in-"

"One Runed skull." She said with a mock bow. "As promised."

Nolan looked down and scooped it up.

"I can't believe it. You got it…. Faster than I thought… Professor Drake will be pleased with me."

Ellie groaned and shook her head.

"Are all Myth Wizards jerks?" she muttered.

"Well, it appears you're the first to return." Nolan said. "I sent a few other students to collect the relics that had appeared on the street, but they haven't returned. Knowing them, they've most likely been gabbing rather than working."

"I wonder why?" Ellie said, her voice dripping in sarcasm.

"Go find them." He said suddenly. "Make sure they get back to work."

"Yes sir." Ellie said, that sarcasm still coating her tongue as she gave a mock salute.

…..

"Stupid myth wizards." Ellie muttered to herself. "Are they all jerks like that? Man am I glad I'm not a myth wizard."

She stomped down the street, continually denouncing Myth Magic and all its practitioners.

"If these kids are from other schools, I can totally see why they'd ditch work. Myth practitioners are a bunch of-"

As she turned a corner, she stopped short. A group of strange green skinned monsters were gathered in a little huddle. They were grunting at each other, making unintelligible noises as well as thumping their large clubs on the ground. One of them was holding a peace of parchment.

"Hello stress relief." Ellie said with a sigh of relief.

She walked over and tapped one of the creatures on the shoulder. It turned stupidly towards her. She waved, then lifted her wand and blasted it. Strangely, the blast was bigger than the ones she'd been able to do before.

"I'm getting stronger." She said. "Good."

The other trolls looked at their fallen comrade, then at her. They roared and raised their clubs, which she easily dodged. However, one came a bit too close for comfort and she blasted it. It immediately disintegrated into dust. The troll stared at its not empty hand in stupid fascination and Ellie suppressed a laugh.

"This is way too easy."

She blasted the stupefied troll and it disappeared, and finally, the other trolls got the message and fled.

"Ha." She said. "Man did I need that."

She bent down and scooped up the parchment.

"Now… let's see what it was you were carrying."

She picked up the note and read it. As she did, her eyes narrowed, and the satisfied smile began to fall into a worried frown.

"Uh-oh."

…..

Nolan saw Ellie running towards him and he shook his head.

"Couldn't find them?" he asked. "Typical. Never send a Necromancer to do a Thaumaturges'-"

"They've been kidnapped." Ellie interrupted.

Nolan paused.

"What?"

"Here."

Ellie handed him the note and he quickly scanned it.

"I pulled it off some troll, but they don't seem smart enough to read, much less write."

"You're right." Nolan replied. "It was written by Cyclopes."

"How did you-"

"Cyclopes never dot their eyes." Nolan said. "Everyone knows that."

"I didn't."

"By everyone, I meant REAL wizards."

Ellie clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, really waning to blast the brat, but calmly keeping her temper.

"GREAT FIRE BATS!" Nolan exclaimed. "The Cyclopes have taken the kids, and want to send them off to someone called M. Good thing you found this."

He begins pacing up and down the stage.

"How to handle this…" he mutters to himself. "No doubt Professor Drake will blame me for what happened, but maybe if I explain that they got themselves kidnapped while I was… no that won't work…. Maybe…."

He turns to Ellie.

"Here. Take the note and tell Professor Drake. He should be able to help us."

"Why me?"

"Because if you get in trouble, it's no big deal. I however, have a future at this school, and I can't let anything jeopardize it."

Ellie took the note and stormed off.

"I could so use another troll right about now." She muttered.

…..

"Professor Drake?" she called as she entered the Myth School.

Cyrus Drake looked up from his desk. He was bald with big blue eyes that seemed to glare into your soul. He was dressed in long yellow robes, and seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face.

"What is it you want?"

"Some kids went missing on Cyclops lane." She explained. "They left this ransom note. I was hoping you could help."

Cyrus sneers at the note, then scrawls out a quick note on a piece of parchment.

"Take this to the robe shop keeper. Tell him I sent you. Time is of the essence."

Ellie takes the note and runs off.

…..

Twenty minutes later, Ellie comes back, a bulging sack over her shoulder, and a glare on her face.

"Took you long enough."

"Professor, I thought you were going to help me with the missing kids."

She threw the sack on the ground and it opened, revealing Cyrus' laundry, which she'd been sent to collect.

"Not send me to pick up your dry cleaning."

The only bright side was that she'd been able to grab her shirts while she was there, and they were perfectly mended and looking better than ever.

"You're still worried about those missing student?" Cyrus growled. "Well I guess that is a problem."

He scrawls out another note.

"What's next?" Ellie asks. "Am I to fetch your groceries too?"

Cyrus ignores her, then hands her the note.

"Take this to the headmaster. That should resolve the matter to my satisfaction."

…..

"Ah, Miss Ellie." Ambrose says with a smile "Good to see you. Did Sergeant Muldoon find you?"

"Yep. He sent me to Cyclops lane, but I'm afraid there's been some trouble."

"How so?"

"Some students have gone missing. Professor Drake told me to bring you this."

The Headmaster takes the note and reads it. His face immediately becomes annoyed.

"I will NOT expel you from Ravenwood, no matter what professor Drake thinks of you."

Ellie's eyes fly open.

"WHAT?!"

She takes the note and reads it.

_Please expel this student, as her actions have resulted in endangering the lives of many of her peers._

In anger, Ellie rips up the note and blasts the pieces with her wand.

"I know you are trying your best to help these students, and that none of this is your fault. I had originally hired General Akilles, the leader of the Cyclopes to get rid of the trolls."

"Yeah, I saw there was a bit of a problem." Ellie commented.

"It appears that something has caused Akilles to change his mind, and I'm afraid this 'M' is responsible."

"Well what do we do?"

"I'm afraid I don't know. But I trust that in time, you'll be able to figure something out. Go back to Cyclops lane, and see what you can do."

…..

"You're back." Nolan said, surprise evident in his tone. "I thought professor drake would have- I mean…. What did he say?"

"We're on our own Nolan."

"He left us alone on this one?" Nolan asked. "Professor Drake must really trust me."

Ellie groaned and face palmed. Was there no end to the ego of this guy?

"I guess the only thing to do is to defeat Akilles and get the kids back, but to do that, we'll need a pass."

"Let me guess, you know where to find one, but have more important things to do than get it."

"Got that right. I have to hold our ground here."

"Sure you do." Ellie said. "Back in a second."

…..

Nolan waited for a while, scraping some mud off of his shoes when a simple pass was tossed into his lap.

"Found it." Ellie said.

Nolan picked up the pass and smiled.

"Great. I'm glad I thought of this plan."

Ellie groaned again, her clenched fist twitching, but luckily, she was able to hold herself back.

"Now, here's my brilliant plan. You go and use the pass to get past Romulus, the Cyclops guardsmen. Then you go and defeat General Akilles. Then you go and free the kids. Finally, you'll bring them back here safely."

"Where do you fit into this plan?" Ellie asked, already knowing the answer.

"I made the plan." He said. "What more do you want from me."

Ellie sighed, wanting to punch this guy so much.

"Whatever. Just tell me where General Akilles is."

"At the end of the street in the large palace."

"Thanks."

…..

She approached the door to the castle head on, walking with an air of confidence. She just imagined that she was about to beat Nolan's face in, and it helped. A large Cyclops stopped her.

"Halt!" he said. "No one may enter unless they have-"

Ellie just held out the stolen pass. Romulus stared at it for a minute, then shrugged.

"Go on in."

Ellie threw the doors open with a smile.

"I'm here to see General Akilles!" she called out.

A large Cyclops wearing a red loin cloth and a golden battle helmet stood up.

"Who dares!?"

"I am Ellie Blood, and I am here for the students you have taken."

Off to her left, Ellie saw three students huddled in a small cell. One was a storm student, another an ice student, and a third was most likely balance. They saw her come in and they perked up crawling over towards the bars to watch.

"Ha!" Akilles snorted. "You cannot free them! Only I have the key to their cage, and I will never hand it over!"

"Not even if I challenge you to a duel?"

Akilles paused. Ellie continued.

"A duel. You versus me. If I win, you set the students free, and return to your true job of eliminating the trolls here. If you win, I join those three in the cage. Deal?"

Akilles thinks for a minute, then smiles.

"Deal!"

He suddenly launches at Ellie, who barely rolls out of the way in time. The floor where she had been standing suddenly cracked under the sudden weight of Akilles' large hammer. He swung it again, nearly taking Ellie's head.

"Whoa." She says. "That was too-"

He swings again, catching her in the stomach and sending her flying. He rebounds off the wall, the breath knocked out of her, She gasps for air and clutches her stomach. She looks up to see Akilles running towards her.

"Come on come on…." Ellie gasps

Her wand glows green and she begins to feel a little better, and once the pain in her stomach isn't so crippling, she rolls away again, causing Akilles to ram the wall rather than her.

"phew." She sighs with relief.

She then takes her wand and hits him with three consecutive death blasts.

He howls in pain as they hit him, and makes a blind swing with his hammer, she strikes the hammer with a blast and it explodes in his face, the dust getting into his eye. He stumbles to the ground, clutching his face.

"Aaaaaaaah!" he screams. "My eye!"

As he clears the dust from his eye, he sees the tip of Ellie's wand, brandishing its usual black light, hovering right at his eye.

"Yield, and I won't blind you permanently."

Akilles shivers, then slowly raises his massive arms

"I yield."

Ellie backs off and Akilles stands up.

"The Key." She says.

Akilles walks over to the cage that the students are being held in and unlocks the door. The kids all scramble out, surrounding her.

"Thanks for freeing us!" the storm wizard said. "I was beginning to wonder if we'd ever be saved."

"Never thought I'd be so happy to see a Necromancer." The Ice wizard commented.

"I had hoped that professor drake would come looking for us at least." The Balance wizard added.

Ellie went to speak, but her stomach still hurt a lot. She was almost certain she had a broken rib or too. She'd talk to the Life professor after she got these kids to safety.

…..

"So let me get this straight." Nolan said. "Not only did you beat Akilles in a duel, but you managed to free the kids and get away with your life? Not bad for a Necromancer."

Ellie groaned again, then went to walk away.

"Well, I best inform professor drake that I successfully rescued the kids."

Ellie froze in her tracks, The three kids froze as well.

"Who saved the kids?" she asked slowly.

"I did of course." Nolan replied.

Ellie turned slowly turned him.

"I don't think so." She said. "I'm the one that fought the trolls. I'm the one that found the note. I'm the one who went to Professor Drake, and ended up getting his DRYCLEANING!"

With each word she seemed to get louder.

"I'm the one who pried the pass from the hands of some very foul Warhorns, who tried to SKEWER ME! I'm the one who fought Akilles! Heck! He BROKE MY RIBS! And yet, you say that YOU SAVED THESE GUYS?!"

"Of course I did. You would never have done any of that without my brilliant leadership and plan making skills. You're just a dumb Necromancer."

"THAT'S IT!"

Ellie launched at Nolan, knocking him off the stage and into the bushes next to it. The three kids who had just been rescued could hear the commotion and looked at each other.

"I didn't see anything." The storm wizard said. "Did you?"

"Nope." The ice wizard replied. "Not a thing."


	5. Trouble on Triton Avenue

Moolinda Mu, the life teacher and unofficial healer for Ravenwood School tsked at the two students sitting in her class. Nolan was nursing a broken nose, a dislocated jaw, two black eyes, a busted lip, as well as several scratches, and what appeared to be bite marks. Ellie just appeared to have broken ribs and some bloodied knuckles.

"How exactly did this happen?" She asked.

"My ribs are because of Cyclops's hammer. My knuckles are because I lost my temper and beat the snot out of Nolan here."

She smiled slightly, revealing her teeth to be slightly stained red. Most likely from the bites. Moolinda shook her head.

"Ladies should not start fights."

"I know Professor Mu. Like I said, I lost my temper. I apologize." Ellie said in a tone that was anything but apologetic.

Nolan just remained silent, occasionally glancing over at Ellie nervously. Moolinda uttered a small charm and green power swirled around the two. Their wounds slowly closed and Ellie felt her ribs go back into place.

"Thank you professor." Ellie said as she leapt to her feet.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I need to tell the headmaster what happened." She explained.

"Alright, but be careful okay?"

"Got it professor."

…..

"So the kids were successfully rescued?" Ambrose asked.

"Yes sir. Akilles will return to his original duties now, so you should not have any more problems from him."

"Excellent." He said with a smile. "Though I heard you ran into a little… trouble with Nolan."

"Oh, we worked it out."

The headmaster nodded. Nolan had always been one to not think before he spoke, and this was not the first time someone had gotten into a fight with him, and most likely, it would not be the last.

"Well, I'm glad that has been resolved. I'll continue to look into the matter of this 'M' character. In the meantime, go back and see if the Sergeant requires your aid once more."

"On it."

…..

Sure enough, the Sergeant was waiting for her when Ellie returned to Olde Town.

"Oh good, you're back." He said. "I've got another emergency."

"Does it involve Nolan?"

"No."

"Or Myth Wizards?"

"No."

"I'm all ears."

"Susie Gryphonbane, a girl from the storm school, called for help. Apparently, her brother's missing."

"I'll check it out. Where is she?"

"Triton Avenue." He said, pointing towards the archway. "She said she'd be waiting by the waterfall."

"Thanks."

…..

Triton Avenue seemed to be perpetually surrounded by storm clouds. All around there were streams of water, though there was no rain yet. At every corner there were large fountains.

"It's like sea world meets a tsunami."

Ellie walked down the slightly darkened streets until she reached a large river dividing the avenue in half. Standing again the stone railing was a girl wearing purple and yellow robes.

"Susie?" Ellie called out.

Susie turned quickly.

"Have you come to help me?" she asked. "Please tell me you're here to help my brother."

"Yes. That's why I'm here."

"Oh Thank the Spiral." She said. "I'm so worried. After the undead began to pour in though the Haunted Caves, my brother and I were sent in to try and stop them. Arthur, my brother, had a theory about how they got through the gate."

"Gate?"

"The undead have always been present in the Haunted Cave. To keep them there, the Necromancers built a gate to keep them locked in. Somehow, they managed to break through it though."

"Alright. I'll check it out. Where is the Haunted Cave?"

"On the other end of the river."

Ellie looked across the river. It was probably half a mile distance between the two cliff sides. There was also a very distinct lack of a bridge.

"Umm… I don't know about you, but I don't know how to fly yet." Ellie said.

"Take the teleporter." Susie said, pointing to a large disk on the ground. It was blue and seemed to glow and spiral.

"Is that a mini spiral gate?"

"No silly." Susie said with a small chuckle. "The Marlybonians installed it after the river was formed. It will simply send you to the other side of the river."

Ellie approached it cautiously.

"Alright… if you say so."

Taking a deep breath, she stepped on it. There was a weird swirling sensation, and suddenly, she was on the other end of the river.

"Whoa…" Ellie said in surprise. "That was… kinda cool."

Focusing again, she walked up towards the streets, and was shocked by what she saw.

There were undead EVERYWHERE. These weren't just lost souls anymore. There were zombies all over, and worse, there were banshees, and from the looks of them, they were Scarlet Screamers, these were dangerous undead that could definitely do more harm than the usual ghost or ghoul.

"Oh dear… This is definitely not good."

She kept to the sidewalk, trying to find where all the undead are coming from. Soon, she sees a large gate with a skull emblazoned in the center. There is a large hole wrenched in the bars and the undead pour out of it.

"Yikes."

As she goes to take a step forward, she feels herself kick something. Looking down, she sees something.

"Double Yikes."

…..

"Please tell me you found my brother." Susie pleaded as Ellie returned.

Ellie just shook her head and held out what she'd found. A broken wand. Susie took it, her hands shaking.

"T-this is Arthur's…." she says shakily. Her eyes fill with tears. "Oh God…. Arthur…"

Ellie goes to comfort her, but then just turns away. There's nothing she can do. However, someone speaks up.

"He may not be dead."

Ellie looks over to see another student. He's dressed in black robes with white trimmings. A death student obviously.

"Duncan Grimwater." He says.

"Ellie Blood."

"Ambrose sent me to check out what was going on. Figured that having someone who could actually deal with the undead would be wise to keep around."

"I see." Ellie commented. "Look. We need to find Arthur. I won't leave her like this."

"I know." Duncan replied. "Here, I'll make you a deal. I'll check around and see what I can find about Arthur. You go see what the deal is with those zombies and other undead. Find out the best way to get rid of them."

"No problem there. I'll be back soon."

…..

As it turns out, it took Ellie a bit longer to get back to Duncan than she'd anticipated. By the time she got back, her clothes were a bit singed.

"Wow." Duncan said. "What happened to you?"

"I pissed off a couple zombies and hurled my magic at them. Here's the catch. They hurled back."

"So they can do magic." Duncan said with a shrug. "Nothing a death shield won't stop."

"That's just it." Ellie said. "They weren't doing death magic. They were doing storm."

That made Duncan pause, Even Susie, still a bit traumatized by her brother's broken wand, perked up at that bit of news.

"How is that possible?" Duncan wondered. "Where could they have learned that?"

"I don't think they did." Ellie replied. "Check this out."

She reached into her backpack and pulled out what appeared to be small medallions with a storm cloud engraved upon it.

"Storm medallions." Susie said in surprise. "No wonder."

"Something, or someone, must have given these to the zombies." Duncan said.

"But who?" Ellie asked.

"I don't know." Duncan said. "I might be able to find out, but I'll need Lumina crystals."

"Where can I find them?" Ellie asked.

"Ask the mill keeper Blad Raveneye. He should have some."

"Got it."

Ellie leapt onto the teleporter and vanished to the other side.

…..

"I wish I could help you." Blad replied. "But all my Lumina crystals were stolen, and with all the undead, I've been stuck here."

"Damn it." Ellie cursed.

"Yep. Every barrel."

"Barrel?"

"Yeah."

"I've seen a few barrels scattered on the street. Maybe those are your crystals!"

"Go fetch one and we'll see."

Ellie ran off down the street and disappeared around a corner. Blad watched, and as he did, he saw what appeared to be black fireworks going off down the street, as well as what appeared to be strikes of lightning. Finally, Ellie returned from the corner, rolling a barrel in front of her.

"Here ya go."

Blad looked at her. Her clothes were a bit more singed than before, and her hair was standing on end. She also seemed slightly twitchy.

"You okay?"

"A girl can only be used as a lightning rod so many times." Is all she says.

Blad shakes it off and opens the barrel. He expected to find the crystals glowing with their usual power, but not this time. They were dead.

"Poseidon's Beard!" he exclaimed. "The crystals have been drained!"

"What?" Ellie asks.

"I don't know how, but it appears that the undead have found a way to drain the crystals of their power."

"That can't be good." Ellie said. "Let me take one. Maybe my friends and I can figure out how they did this."

…..

"How did they do this?!" Duncan exclaimed. "Those zombies can barely walk on their own, much less drain Lumina crystals!"

"Someone must be doing it for them." Susie comments. "But who?"

"Well, we can't find out unless I have an actual working crystal."

The three students look at each other, then Ellie perks up.

"Wait a second. I'll bet you gold coins to gummy firecats that some of the undead have a working crystal. In fact, now that I think about it, those banshees had some crystals hanging around their neck. I can go and snag some."

The two other wizards looked at Ellie. She seemed pretty wired, most likely from getting shocked so many times.

"At least heal yourself first." Susie insisted. "You're wired more tightly than a clockwork golem."

Ellie nodded and pulled out her wand. A fairy came out and flew around her. It helped, but not much. Duncan saw this and sighed.

"Here."

He stood up and spread his arms.

"Blast me." He said.

"Huh?" Ellie asked.

"You're a Necromancer right? Use a sap spell on me. It will hurt me, but it will partially heal you as well."

Ellie shrugged and pointed her wand at Duncan. A blast of blue energy struck him in the chest. He grunted as said energy then went straight into Ellie's chest, healing her. She let out a sigh of relief, feeling much better.

"You okay?"

"Yeah… I just need to sit for a minute. I'll be better by the time you get back."

"Alright. Just hang on. I'll be right back."

…..

Duncan was still a little light headed when Ellie returned.

"Found one." She said. "It still works, so you should be able to get what you need from that medallion."

"Perfect." He said. "Hand it over, and I'll work my magic."

Ellie tossed him a glowing Lumina crystal tied to a piece of leather cord. He took it and held it over the storm medallion. There was a spark and a then a cord of lightning began to channel between the two. The crystal began to glow brighter and brighter. Suddenly an image appears in the crystal.

"I see something…" Ellie says.

"What do you see?" Both Duncan and Susie ask.

Ellie squints.

"I see….. I see a scarecrow… It's in a tower… A tower…. Covered in vines…. Vines with thorns…

"Anything else?" Duncan asked.

"It's… it's not alone…. There's…. there's someone with it."

"Who?" Susie asks. "Who?"

"It… it looks like a prisoner… they're chained to the wall…. Wait... I… I think it's….."

Ellie blinks, and as she does, the light fades as the Lumina crystal loses power. Duncan grimaces and stops his magic. The image faded. Duncan sat down and looked at Ellie.

"Well, I've got some good news at least." Duncan said. "If you're sure you saw the scarecrow, I know who it is."

"Who?" Ellie asked.

"The Harvest Lord." Duncan says. "He's a powerful scarecrow. It would make sense that he's behind this. Scarecrows are the original source of Necromancy magic."

"If that's the case, then the bad news I have just officially got worse." Ellie said.

"What now?" Susie asked.

"The prisoner I saw," Ellie explained. "Was a boy… wearing yellow and purple robes."

Susie gasped.

"ARTHUR!"

Susie ran towards the teleporter, desperate to save her brother. Both Duncan and Ellie immediately pounced on her, pinning her down.

"Let me GO!" She shouted. "I need to save my brother!"

She kicked and fought, screaming the entire time. Finally, Ellie jabbed her fingers into the side of Susie's neck. She froze, then slumped in their grip. Duncan took her and gently lowered her to the ground.

"How did you-?"

"Vulcan Death Grip." Ellie interrupted. "She's unconscious."

"Vulcan what?"

"Forget it." Ellie said. "It's an Earth thing."

She looked down at Susie, then slipped off her extra shirt, using it to pillow her head.

"She'll be alright. She's just sleeping."

"How long will she be out?"

"Long enough for me to save her brother from the Harvest Lord."

Duncan's head shoots up.

"You can't!"

"Dude, am I seriously about to have this conversation again?"

"Again?"

"Ceren tried to- Oh never mind. Look. You can try and talk me out of doing this, knowing that I will do it anyways, or you can stop wasting time and tell me where I can find a tower overrun by thorny vines."

Duncan could tell that arguing with her was fruitless, so he just gave up the location.

"Look close to the entrance to the cave. See where the undead seem to be convulsing. That's your best bet."

"On it."

…

The tower was easy to find. A bit too easy for Ellie. As she approached, she was surprised to see the undead seemed to be just standing there, or floating there in the case of the Banshees. Almost as if…

"They're waiting for me." Ellie said in a hushed tone.

She slowly walked towards the door of the tower, and surprisingly, the undead parted for her, letting her past. However, they didn't seem scared of her. Instead, they seemed to be smiling, as if they expected her to die a horrible death. Ellie could feel their gaze bore down on her.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm in over my head?"

The second she said that, she felt a strange force suddenly grab her, pulling her into the tower, the door slamming behind her. She's thrown to the floor, right at the "feet" of a large scarecrow.

"KEEHEHEHEHEHE!" It laughed in a high pitched voice. "Please come in! We've been waiting for you!"

Ellie slowly got to her feet, watching the scarecrow carefully.

"You're the Harvest Lord I take it." Ellie stated

The Harvest Lord cackled again.

"In the flesh! So to speak."

"Then you have something that doesn't belong to you."

"Oh! You mean this?"

The Harvest lord floated to the side, revealing Arthur. He looked hurt, and he was obviously weak, but Ellie was relieved to see that he was still alive.

"Arthur… Thank God."

The Harvest Lord cackled again, drawing Ellie's attention.

"I must admit, the Gryphonbane boy was a bit of a hassle… but you! You are unique… Never have I encountered a student as brash… as reckless as you. Diving into battles, running headfirst into danger; it's as if you have no fear of death!"

It approaches her, its pumpkin face leering down on her.

"My master would have good use for one such as you."

"You mean Malistaire." Ellie said.

"You know of my master?"

"More than you do."

"Then you will know that he will not allow anyone to stand in his way."

"Well too bad, because I won't let him destroy this place!"

Ellie pulled out her wand, but before she could fire off a shot, The Harvest Lord swung his arm and knocked it from her grasp. She dove for it, but was intercepted again by the sweep of the Harvest Lord's arm.

"Pathetic." He sneered. "Absolutely pathetic."

Ellie scrambled to her feet, only to dive again to avoid a blast of electricity. She turned to see the Harvest Lord brandishing a storm medallion. He pointed at her and shot another jolt. She dodged again, hoping to reach her wand, but a blast caught her solidly in the chest. Electricity coursed through her until the Harvest Lord let her fall, small sparks of electricity still sparking. She shakily got to her feet again, reaching out for her wand. However, the Harvest Lord picked it up just as her fingers brushed the tip

"A Reapers Rod?" he says. "You're a Necromancer… How interesting."

He snaps the wand in his grasp dropping it in front of Ellie.

"Without a wand to focus your power, you risk hurting the boy. Now how will you fight?"

He grabs Ellie by her neck, lifting her off the ground. She tries to break his grip, but despite being made of straw, he's surprisingly strong.

"You have failed little wizardling. Soon, the undead shall take this street, and will overrun wizard City. We will drive the students out one by one, and we will destroy this place. And finally, Ambrose will fall!"

He cackles again and Ellie gasps, her vision going blurry.

"Any last words?" he asked.

"Yeah…." She croaks, "How about… a little…. Fire…. Scarecrow?"

Her hand suddenly burst into black flames that start consuming his arm. He screams and drops her and she gasps for air. He starts flailing his arms around, trying to put out the fire. Ellie slowly sits up and throws her arm in his direction. A long spew of black fire suddenly engulfs him. He screams again and explodes, leaving only a pumpkin head. She quickly smashes it, cutting off the last of his screams.

"Stupid bag of straw." She croaks.

Shakily, she stumbles over to Arthur. Using the last of her mana, she grabs the chains and deteriorates them they snap and he falls.

"Ung…" he groans as he slowly sits up.

"I agree…" Ellie whispers.

Arthur looks at Ellie, then at the smashed pumpkin.

"You… saved me."

"You can thank your sister for that."

Arthur smiles a bit. He then reaches into his pocket, pulling out a bottle of glowing purple liquid. He takes a swig and his gaze starts to clear. He holds the bottle out to her.

"Drink this. You'll feel loads better."

Ellie takes a swig, and almost instantly feels a ton better.

"What is this?" she asked.

"Potion." Arthur said, slowly getting to his feet. "Rejuvenates ya, as well as tops off your mana."

"Got to start carrying these around." Ellie said as Arthur helped her up.

"I got a spare bottle you can use. Just fill it up at that stall in the carnival."

She took the bottle and slipped it into her backpack. She then picked up her broken wand.

"Headmaster's gonna kill me." She said.

"Maybe not." Arthur said. "Check this out."

Ellie looked over to see a large wooden staff leaning against the wall. It was nothing special, just a long stick with the end curled, but it was a staff.

"That'll work."

Ellie snatched it up and smiled.

"Come on." She said. "Let's get you back to your sister."

…..

Duncan had stayed with Susie the entire time, finally, she was starting to stir. As she did, Arthur and Ellie appeared on the teleporter.

"Susie?" Arthur said quietly.

Susie turned slowly towards the sound of her brother's voice.

"Arthur?"

She looks at her brother and tears come to her eyes. She scrambles to her feet and tackles him, hugging him tightly.

"Oh thank heavens you're alright." She said between sobs.

Ellie smiled at the tearful reunion, leaning against the wall on the edge of the cliff. She smiled as the siblings slowly stood up and Susie wiped her eyes.

"We best inform the headmaster what's happened here." She said. "He deserves to know."

"Good idea Susie." Ellie said "Lets go right-"

Before she could finish her sentence, a large claw like a crabs grabs her arm, yanking her over the wall.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" she screamed as she fell into the water below.

"ELLIE!" the three wizards yell as she's plunged into the water below.

"We have to save her!" Arthur says.

"How?" Duncan asks. "That drop will kill anyone."

"There has to be a way." Susie says.

However, the three wizards can only hope that their friend makes it back alive.


	6. An Unexpected Detour

_Thump….. Thump….. Thump….._

Ellie felt something banging on her chest. It hurt. It hurt a lot, like a fire in her lungs.

Lungs?

Suddenly it all came back to her; the claw grabbing her arm, the fall, the splash-

SPLASH!

She violently turned to her side, coughing up what felt like gallons upon gallons of water. As she coughed, the thumping stopped and she felt something solid and oval shaped holding her, keeping her up.

"Thank the tritons." A voice said with relief. "I was afraid I had drowned you."

Coughing up the last of the water, Ellie gasped for air. After several deep breath and a few more coughs, she finally spoke up.

"You nearly did…" she wheezed, still trying to fill her lungs with air. As she finally was able to see straight she slowly turned over until she was sitting up straight, aided by that strange thing holding her again. She looked to see… blue claws. Claws like a crab, or a lobster. Attached to the claws was some sort of man-crab. Evelyn stared at him.

"Wha- what happened?" she asked, still a bit left of center. "Who are you?"

"My name is Herman." The crab man explained. "And as for what happened, I was attempting to summon aid from the surface. Unfortunately, my leg slipped on the cliff face and in desperation, I grabbed your arm instead of the wall."

Ellie looked at her arm, which was bleeding due to large claw marks.

"Ouch…"

Herman took some bandages from a nearby trunk and wrapped them around the cuts.

"Please forgive me." He said. "It was never my intention to hurt you."

"I know." Ellie said. "If you wanted to hurt me, you would have let me drown rather than bring me….."

Ellie looked around her. The building she was in had air, and yet, she could see coral growing in the corners, as well as small trickles of water.

"Where did you bring me?"

"My home in Crab Alley."

"Crab Alley?"

"You know it as the waterfall. Crab Alley is the part of Triton Avenue that fell into the water when the waterfall was formed. The buildings remained, as well as the street."

"So… I'm underwater… and yet there is air."

Herman just shrugged.

"Magic." Was all he said.

Ellie just shrugged as Herman tied of the bandage. She smiled at him, then slowly stood up.

"So." She said. "What trouble do you need help with?"

Herman blinked.

"You're willing to help me?"

Ellie shrugged.

"It's pretty much why I'm in Wizard City in the first place. To help people."

Herman smiled, then stood up as well.

"So tell me what happened."

"It's our King." Herman explained. "King Thermidor… He's been acting strangely lately."

"When did it start?"

"When a breach was discovered in the river wall. He went in to see what was wrong, but when he came out, he was accompanied by Riverclaws."

"What's a river claw?"

"A scaly beast, not the brightest of creatures, but what they lack in intelligence, they make up for in brute strength."

"So they're bad."

"Very much so. They've overtaken the streets, but more than that, they have done something to our king."

"What can I do?"

"Find out what happened to him. I fear it is something of a magical nature."

"Alright, but there are two problems."

Herman looked confused.

"Problem number one: I can't breathe underwater."

Herman conked himself on the head with his claw, then fished into a small knapsack on his belt. He pulled out a vial of blue liquid.

"This potion will allow you to breath underwater." Herman said. "However, it is only attune to the water of this river, so don't try to breathe another river's water."

"That sounded slightly wrong, but eh."

Ellie took the potion and chugged it quickly. It felt weird going down her throat, but afterwards, she felt a strange buzzing in her lungs.

"Alright." She said. "Now problem number two: where do I start?"

Herman thought for a minute, then looked up.

"Thomas Cromshell." He said. "He was the King's right claw man until they had a falling out. Thomas was arrested and locked in the White Tower."

"Alright… I take it I'll need a key."

"Just look for those Riverclaws I mentioned. One of them should have it."

Ellie nodded, then looked at the door.

"Alright… Here goes nothing."

…..

Ellie couldn't decide which was freakier; the fact that the water did not flood into the house when she opened the door, or the fact that she found herself able to breath in the water.

"This is both really cool and incredibly freaky." She said, her voice bubbly due to the water.

She took a deep breath, freaked out a bit more, calmed down again, then started walking down the street. It was weird, like she was walking in slow motion, and she got annoyed quite fast and began swimming. As she rounded a corner, she came face to face with a large green creature. It was covered in scales with large eyes, a mouth with rows of sharp teeth, and sharp claws.

"You must be a river claw." Ellie said

The thing growled at her and raked its claw at her. She pushed off of it, narrowly avoiding the claws. She gripped her staff, which Herman had been nice enough to find for her, and shot the creature in the chest with a death blast. Unfortunately, its scales protected it from the brunt of the blast.

"Now that's not fair." She groaned.

The creature howled and leapt at her, but Ellie swan underneath it. As she did that, she noticed something glittering on its hip. She looked, and sure enough, it was a key.

"I guess I'm both lucky, and unlucky." She muttered.

The riverclaw growled at her again and Ellie faced it.

"Come on ugly… Let's see what you got."

It launched at her again, but Ellie just jumped up and it ran smack into the wall she had been standing in front of. Dazed it stumbled a bit as Ellie snatched up the key and swam away. She smiled as she swam above the streets, looking for a white tower.

"White tower… white tower… white-"

She looks up to see a tall tower standing before her.

"I guess this is it."

She swam over to the door and slowly opened it. She could see two large crab people marching across the room, and on the other end, sitting in a cage, was a smaller crab person, obviously Thomas Cromshell. She stepped through the water barrier and into the air filled room. Unfortunately, she was still soaking wet and made a lot of noise. The two crabs looked over.

"Well there goes the element of surprise." She muttered to herself.

"Oi!" one of the bigger ones shouts. "Who are you?"

"Ellie Blood, Necromancer." She said.

"What's a surface dweller doing down in Crab Alley." A big crabman asked.

"Long story, no time. Can I talk to Thomas for a bit?"

"What for?" the other big crab asked.

"I just need to ask him about his relationship with King Thermidor."

"Your request is denied." The big crab said.

Ellie shook her head.

"You don't understand." She said. "It wasn't a request."

She swung her staff and it connected with the side of one of the crabs head, knocking him into the other, she then swept her staff again under their legs and they fell to the ground.

"It was a demand."

Ellie walked over to the small crabman in the cage.

"Thomas Cromshell?"

He looked up, slightly fearful after watching her dispatch the two crabs. Seeing this, Ellie gently set her staff to the side and moved away from it.

"I'm not here to hurt you." She explained. "Herman sent me. He told me about your king and everything that's been going on."

Thomas suddenly seemed to perk.

"You're hear about the king? Thank the Tritons! He's not been himself since his venture into the warrens. When I tried to suggest such a thing, he had me imprisoned."

"Do you have any clue about what's going on?"

"I'm afraid not… but Captain Jonah may. He's the captain of the guard here, and he lives not far down the street."

"I'll talk to him, see what I can find out, and while I'm at it, I'll see what I can do about that cage."

"Thank you Young Wizardling."

"It's Ellie."

…..

Approaching Captain Jonah's home, Ellie opened the door and entered. Surprisingly, the entire tower was full of water. Ellie guessed the enchantment had either run out, or had been disabled.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for Captain Jonah." She called.

Suddenly, two sets of claws grabbed her arm, one right where Herman had already injured. She winced as the wound was reopened. They brought her before a large blue crabman in blue armor.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"I'm Ellie Blood, Necromancer, and I'm looking for Captain Jonah."

"I'm him, but that still doesn't explain what you're doing here!"

"I just said that-"

"Everyone knows that there's a curfew set by King Thermidor himself, and by royal decree, I arrest you!"

Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Well damn."

She wrenched her arms free of the claws, screaming in pain as she did, then quickly blasted the two guards in the face with a death blast. They fell to the ground unconscious, and a quick blast at Jonah made him fall as well.

"Ahhh…. Damnit that hurts."

Both her arms were bleeding now. Taking her staff, she cast a quick healing spell to stop the bleeding, but just that. She knew she would need as much magic she could spare for what was ahead. She looked down at the unconscious crabs groaning at her feet.

"Curfew?" she said. "Well that's just peachy."

…..

"A Curfew you say?" Thomas asked when Ellie returned.

Ellie whacked the two guards from earlier again, knocking them back into unconsciousness.

"Yep. That's what he said. On top of that, I found a piece of paper stating that the king had demanded sole ownership of the key to your cage."

Thomas seemed to scratch his chin with his claws, thinking.

"Well then, I guess to get me out, you'll need to speak to the King."

"I don't think I'll just be able to walk up and say hello." Ellie said, sitting down in front of the cage. "The door is heavily guarded, and after the thrashing I gave Jonah, I'll need a valid excuse to get in."

"A valid excuse hmm…."

"Anything come to mind Cromshell?"

Thomas thought for a moment, then perked up.

"You may be in luck. Recently, the King has taken a liking to tea and crumpets. Perhaps if you were to procure some from the royal chef Catherine, you may be able to get past the guards."

Ellie blinked for a moment.

"Tea and crumpets…. Underwater….. I swear I will never stop being amazed by magic."

…..

Swimming carefully, not wanting to get caught by the riverclaw, or the town constables, Ellie made her way down the street.

"Alright. He said look for the house with the water shield disabled… Well how am I supposed to know if it's disabled or not?"

He then saw a small house on the corner. In the yard was a driftwood sign that had a water droplet drawn on it. Thinking back, she had seen a sign like that in front of Captain Jonah's tower.

"I guess this is it."

She knocked on the door and a pink crab wearing WAY too much make-up opened the door.

"Oh hello dear. Come in, come. Come."

Ellie swam in and the crab shut the door. The crab smiled at her with thick red lipstick covered lips.

"How can I help you dear?"

"Thomas Cromshell sent me ma'am." Ellie said, awkwardly sitting on the couch. (It's hard to sit underwater, try it sometimes.)

Catherine's smile faded a bit.

"Then you're here about the King." She said. "Thank the tritons. Ever since he got back from that World Tour of his-"

"Wait… World Tour?"

Catherine nodded and pulled out a large photo album. She began leafing through it, showing pictures of singing and dancing crabs.

"Yes… Ever since that nice young human girl came here and taught us music, all of Crab Alley has been ablaze with musical talent, and our King… Oh, he's the start of the show."

"Human girl?"

"A young female…. Selena I believe she was called…"

She flipped to a picture of a girl with long brown hair wearing a blue shirt, a purple skirt with green trimming, a golden scarf, and holding a golden microphone. Ellie blinked.

"That's Selena Gomez!"

"Ah yes, that was her name. Such a sweet girl. She was brought here on accident because we believed her to be a Grandmaster wizard."

"You were probably mistaking her for a character she played on a TV show."

"Sorry?"

"Never mind… Continue."

"She forgave our king, and even taught us how to sing and dance before she went home. She changed our lives for the better."

Catherine smiled with happy memories, then suddenly she perked up.

"Oh dear, it appears we got off track. We were discussing the King."

"Right. I need to get in to see him. Perhaps I can pretend to be bringing him some tea and crumpets."

"Oh of course you can dearie... I'll make the tea… the crumpets may be a bit hard."

"I don't think so."

Ellie pulled out a large sack.

"On my way here, I saw a Riverclaw rifling through this and saw there were pastries inside. When he looked away, I snatched it up."

"So that's where they went…" Catherine said with a sigh. "Well, you give me those and wait a moment, and I'll have the king's tray ready in a moment."

….

Several minutes later, Ellie swam up to the castle gates with a tray of tea and crumpets in her hand. The entire thing was surrounded by a large bubble, and the crumpets were dry. Ellie decided not to question it.

"'Alt!" a castle guard demanded. "Who goes there?"

"I have the Kings evening tea and crumpets." She replied, holding up the tray.

The guard nodded.

"Good. 'E's ungry now, that one. Been waitin' fer awhile. Gowon in."

The large doors opened and Ellie entered, surprised that the castle still had air. As she walked in, the bubble popped and the tray was fine. She balanced it and shook her head.

"I will never understand magic… or how a crab can speak cockney."

She approached the throne, and had to blink when she got up there. Sitting on the throne, dressed in kingly robes that were obviously too small, was a large purple Riverclaw. It turned to her and snarled.

"Who dares intrude upon King Amadeo- err I mean King Thermidor?!"

Ellie blinked again, then held up the tray. The Riverclaw grinned and snatched the tray from her, stuffing his face with the pastries, and chugging the tea down like it was a soda. Ellie continued to stare as he finished it off.

"Ahhh… Good crumpets…."

He noticed Ellie staring and waved a large scaly hand in front of her face.

"What are you staring at? Do I have crumbs on my shirt or something?"

Ellie blinked, then stumbled back, giving a curt bow ad scrambling away.

…..

"A Riverclaw named Amadeo is pretending to be our king?!" Thomas Cromshell exclaimed.

Ellie sat in front of his cage once more, having hurriedly returned Catherine's tray, trying to figure out exactly what was going on.

"Catherine was just as shocked as you are. I don't get why. Your King is a crab like you."

It then dawned on her that she had no idea what their King looked like.

"You king _is _a crab like you, right?"

Thomas nodded.

"I cannot believe I could not see through that disguise." Thomas muttered. "He is clever indeed."

Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Whatever… there is still the problem with freeing you."

"Forget about freeing me." Thomas said. "You must find the King. The REAL King."

Ellie threw her arms in the air.

"And once again, back to square one!"

"Maybe not." Thomas said. "As I told you before, the king was different after he entered the breech. Perhaps that is because the real king never left the breech."

Ellie sat there for a minute, then thumped herself on the forehead.

"Idiot." She chastised herself. "I'm such an idiot."

She got up and walked towards the door.

"Alright… Now all I have to do go to the breech… shouldn't be too hard."

…..

The Breech was guarded, that much was expected. However, a quick jump made it easy for her to clear the two guards easily. Swimming through the dark trench, Ellie continued until she saw another guard. This one appeared scared, so he must have been a member of the Kings entourage when he came in the first time.

"Excuse me…" she whispered.

The crab jumped, aiming his spear at Ellie. Ellie threw her hands up, her staff gently floating to the ground.

"Peace. I'm not your enemy."

The Crab let out a deep breath and lowered his spear.

"My apologies." He said. "I got separated from my king, and unfortunately, I have been attacked ever since. I have been trying to hold my ground here, but my defenses are failing."

Ellie looked to see that the large cavern appeared to be divided by large shells buried in the ground. Around them were large dead fish that seemed to be like underwater scarecrows.

"It was the best I could do at the time, but they have held this long."

"So you believe the king is down here?"

"Yes. He must be. I have kept my eyes peeled, but I have not seen him."

Ellie swam over and peered over one of the shell walls. He saw a few purple riverclaw marching around.

"Purple… purple like King Amadeo…"

She ducked back down and picked up her staff.

"Stay here… I think I may know who took your King."

…

Several minutes, several bruises, and a few broken teeth later, Ellie stood over the only conscious purple riverclaw left.

"Now, I'm only gonna ask one more time." She said. "Where is King Thermidor…? The REAL King Thermidor?"

The riverclaw groaned.

"Please…. No more…."

"The answer my question!"

She brought her staff down on his head. She had learned earlier that her magic was not strong enough to pierce their armor, but luckily, they were still susceptible to physical blows, even if the water cushioned the blows a bit. It gave a guttural cry, then finally spoke again.

"No more… The King….. He is... in the wailing caverns…."

"And where are these caverns?"

The Riverclaw weakly pointed towards a dark tunnel at the end of the cave. Ellie smiled and swam towards it. However, as she got close, she saw that the tunnel was way too dark for her to just blindly enter. She'd needed a light.

"How am I supposed to find a light down here? It's not like I can light a torch, and a magical light will drain my mana."

As if to answer her question, something nudged her arm. Ellie turned to see a large fish, as in a fish as big as she was. Ellie yelped in shock and backed away. The fish just shook its fins, and as it did, Ellie saw that its fins seemed to sparkle. No… now sparkle.

Glow.

"A Glowing Fish!" Ellie said with a smile. "You're here to help me get through the tunnel!"

The Fish darted towards the darkened tunnel. Ellie went to follow it, but then another fish, then another, and finally two more also went down, forming a long path illuminated with glowing fish. Ellie smiled.

"I love Magic."

…..

She reached the end of the tunnel carefully, not knowing what to expect. She gripped her staff tightly and swam out of the tunnel and into the wailing cavern. However, the sight that greeted her was nothing like what she had expected.

There was a large stage set up in the cavern. It appeared to be set up for some sort of concert. Standing on the stage, adjusting several different instruments, was a crab. He was dressed in a red shirt, black pants with a black studded belt, and had a blue scarf and a strange looking brown wig.

"Hello there." He called out. "Are you here for the sound check?"

Ellie swam closer to the stage, but the crab held up a claw.

"Careful. The stands are full of electric eels."

Ellie looked to see large electric eels swimming between the roughly made seats. Ellie immediately pushed off of one, out of range of them.

"No thank you." She said. "I have been shocked enough for several lifetimes."

She swam up to the stage and approached the crab.

"King Thermidor?" she asked.

The crab king smiled and gave a bow.

"In the shell." He said. "It's always a pleasure to meet with a fan. And I must say, you must be a great fan of mine to have found a way to breathe underwater for my reunion concert."

"Concert?"

"Yes. King Amadeo is a big fan of my music, and said he would return shortly after he covered some business in Crab Alley. I told him I would wait for him and set up."

Ellie blinked a few times.

"Umm… Your Highness… I think you've been tricked."

After a quick explanation, The King looked shocked.

"My entire kingdom… taken over. I must go back!"

Then he looked down at the eels and kind of shivered.

"Unfortunately, my guards have gone missing, and with the eels surrounding the stage, I don't feel safe leaving."

"I'll go find your guards then. You just wait here."

…..

A few minutes later, Ellie returned with three large crabs in armor. They approached their king and knelt down in front of him.

"My King." One said. "Please forgive us. We were captured by the riverclaw and locked away until this wizard broke us out."

Thermidor looked over at Ellie, who simply spun her staff in her hand and blew on the twisted end. The guards rose and examined their king.

"I am glad you aren't hurt." One of them said. "We were afraid that the riverclaw had harmed you."

"I am perfectly alright." He said. "But there is still the matter of my kingdom."

Ellie grinned and held out her hand.

"Leave that to me."

…..

King Amadeo sat on the throne of Crab Alley, as happy as a clownfish. Crab Alley was his, King Thermidor was clueless, and he had all the tea and crumpets he could ever desire.

Suddenly, the door was flung open, and in walked the crumpets girl, as well as four armed crabs, and…

"King Thermidor!" he cried out.

"That's right, you scaly ruffian!" King Thermidor replied. "Your pitiful charade ends here."

"I think not!" King Amadeo shouted.

He leapt from the thrown, only to be intercepted by the crumpets girl.

"How dare you!" he shouted. "I am your King!"

"Actually, I'm not from here." She replied. "Ellie Blood, Apprentice Necromancer."

"A Wizard!" Amadeo exclaimed.

Ellie grinned.

"Yep."

She gathered her power into her staff, aiming directly at the King's face. He screamed and covered his face.

"You know… the entire time I've been here, your people have continued to attack me. And what I found is that your scales seem to block my magic. However, your face scales are thinner."

To prove her point, she blasted him again. He screamed again.

"So here's what's gonna happen." She explained. "You are going to leave Crab Alley, go back into the breach, and you're gonna stay there."

Amadeo screamed again, and Ellie ceased blasting.

"Either that, or I find out what color your blood is. Your choice."

…..

Ellie smiled as all of the riverclaw vacated Crab Alley. King Thermidor, surrounded by his adoring subjects, congratulated Ellie.

"I must thank you young wizard. You have saved my kingdom."

Ellie shrugged.

"No problem." She said. "It's what I do."

She looked up at the seemingly endless water. As she did, she noticed that the water had a bit of an orange tinge to it. The sun was going down.

"Oh shoot…" she cursed. "How long have I been down here? I totally forgot about Susie, Duncan and the others…. Oh man… they must be worried sick."

She gave the king a bow.

"Sorry, but I've got to get back. I think my friends think I'm dead."

…..

Professor Ambrose stood at the edge of the cliff, looking down at the water. All around him were several guards, a few students, as well as Professor Halston Balestrom

"Halston…" he said. "Is there any possibility that Miss Blood is still alive?"

The frog hopped onto the wall.

"I'm not sure." He said. "We have found several life signs down there, but my guess is they are merely fish or small crabs."

Susie, who had remained by the Cliffside, looked into the water sadly. She prayed her brother's rescuer still lived. As she looked, she saw the surface of the water beginning to bubble slightly. She blinked, and peered closer. The bubbles got bigger and bigger.

"Professor Ambrose." She called.

The professor turned. He saw Susie looking at the water, and looked as well. He saw the bubbles and his eyes widened.

"Something's coming up."

Suddenly, the surface of the water broke and Ellie came flying out of the water. She came up a few feet, then landed right back in the water. Once her head broke the surface again, Susie cheered.

"ELLIE!"

"Miss Blood." Ambrose called.

"Hey!" she called back, waving. "Anybody got a rope?"

Several guards tossed down a large rope, which Ellie grabbed onto. They pulled her up the Cliffside, where Susie and Ambrose pulled her to safety. She sat down on the grass while a guard wrapped a large towel around her.

"Ellie." Susie said "How in all the spiral are you still alive?"

"Yes, how did you survive?" Ambrose asked. "You were underwater for several hours."

"After pulling me into a building with a functional water shield, Herman, this nice crabman, helped me force the water from my lungs. Afterwards, he gave me a water breathing potion. Now, if I ever fall into Crab Alley again, I won't drown. It's also why, despite my lungs being full of water, I can breathe."

Everyone blinked at her and Haston jumped onto her lap, placing his hand against her chest.

"She's right." He said, "Her lungs are like water balloons right now."

He jumped off her and poked her with his walking stick. He then traced a line up her throat and away from her. Ellie instinctively opened her mouth, and a large bubble of water floated out of her throat. Haston magically tossed the water away, and Ellie took a few experiemental breathes.

"So that's what it feels like to breathe air. I'd almost forgotten."

Ambrose sat down with Ellie.

"Tell me, exactly what happened down there?"

Ellie smiled.

"It's a very long story."


	7. Up in Flames

Ellie toweled her hair off, thankful to finally be dry. Her clothes were now hanging on a makeshift laundry line, and she was currently dressed in a skinny black dress with grey pants underneath.

"Ahhh" she sighed. "That's better."

She set the towel on the makeshift line, then turned to the fireplace. With a quick flick of her wrist, a small black flame formed in her hand, and it quickly formed a real flame in the fireplace.

"And that's perfect." She said.

She turned to grab a large blanket from her bed, but when she turned back to the fireplace, something was there.

"GAH!" she jumped.

The thing in her fireplace smiled at her, then jumped out of the fire. It laughed loudly, jumping around her room. It leapt off the walls, her bed, and even her dresser, until it landed right at her feet, skipping in place. Ellie looked down at the creature, a weird little man, no more than two feet tall wearing a red and yellow Robin Hood costume.

"What are you?"

The thing just kept skipping there, but she saw that there were small char marks on the carpet.

"Fire…" she whispered.

The creature nodded, then made a point to move so as not to start a fire. It then skipped towards the door. It waited there.

"You want out?" she asked.

The elf nodded and Ellie smiled. She grabbed a grey denim jacket, a pair of red boots, threw them on, then threw the door open. The elf leapt through the door and took off down the street, Ellie hot on its trail. It ran out of Ravenwood and across the Commons. It leapt right over two students playing a magical card game. The two kids watched it go.

"Hey!" One of them called.

Ellie then leapt over them as well, scattering the cards.

"Hey!" the other shouted.

"Sorry!" she shouted. "No Time! Got a weird elf thing to follow."

It ran down the shopping district, right through Olde Town, and all the way down the hill and through an archway marked Firecat Alley. Ellie stopped at the archway and read the sign.

"A new one…" she said. "Time for another adventure then."

She ran through the tunnel, and was immediately blasted by the hot, dry air.

"Whoa." She hissed. "That's hot."

The fire elf laughed loudly, drawing her attention. She looked and it darted down the street again, leaving Ellie to follow it. It went down the street, down a slope, and right up to a guard standing by a large bronze statue of a cat. Ellie approached and the guard looked surprised.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Following that little guy." She replied, pointing at the elf.

The guard looked down at the elf.

"Feebo… I thought you told me you were going to get help."

The elf, Feebo apparently, laughed again, jumping in the air and pointing at Ellie.

"I think I'm the help the elf meant." She said. "Ellie Blood, Initiate Necromancer."

"Private Quinn." He replied. "Friend of the fire elves, or at least I was."

"What happened?" she asked.

"The elves are natural pranksters, so when they told me to meet them here and they didn't show up, I thought it was a prank. However, when I went to Fireglobe Theater to check on them, they attacked me."

Ellie's eyes widened.

"What?"

"They flat out shot at me."

"Shot at you? With what?"

Feebo tugged on the skirt of her dress, and held up a fiery bow and arrow. Ellie blinked.

"Where did that come from?" she asked.

"The fire elves can summon their weapons at will." Private Quinn explained. "Their arrows and their bows."

He suddenly perked up.

"Of course. A fire elf is connected to their weapon like a wizard is a connected to their power. If we can get ahold of some of their arrows, we should be able to find out what happened to my friends."

"Alright." Ellie said. "I may have a way, but this is seriously gonna hurt."

…..

Ellie crept up the hill slowly, careful not to draw any attention to herself. For this to work, she would have to time this perfectly. Too soon, and she would not get what she needed. Too late, and she'd be dead.

As she poked her head over the edge of the hill, she could see the elves marching around the streets. These elves were not smiling like the one below was. They were all grim faces, and their eyes seemed to be unnaturally red.

"That can't be good." She whispered. "They're definitely under some sort of spell. With any luck, those arrows should be able to tell me what's going on."

She slips up the street and darts behind a building. She peeks out again, and sees how far she'd have to run.

"This should do it." She said.

She took a deep breath and walked out of her hiding spot.

"Fire elves!" she called. "I'm right here!"

The elves all froze, then turned towards her, fiery weapons appearing in their hands.

"I'm here to help you!" she called. "But I need some of your arrows to find out what happened to you."

They drew back their bows and began firing. Ellie ran across the street, ducking, dodging, and weaving to avoid the arrows. Then she stood on the edge of the hill and smiled.

"Close but no cigar." She said. "Now I just need to-"

_THWACK_

An arrow struck her right in the shoulder, followed by another one, and another. She screamed in pain and tumbled down the hill, rolling right up to Private Quinn.

"Got 'em." She hissed. "Though not how I expected to."

Quinn looked down at her and winced. He knelt down and grasped one of the arrows.

"You could have simply dueled them for these." He said as he yanked one out.

Ellie bit her lip against the pain.

"Gnnnh… I didn't… want to hurt them… they're enchanted."

Another yanked arrow.

"AH! They're good…. Nnn… guys." She hissed.

"How do you know?" Quinn asked as he grasped the last arrow. "The spell on them may have completely changed them."

Ellie gritted her teeth and when Quinn pulled the last arrow out, she slapped her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. After a second, she slowly let go and took a deep breath.

"I know… because… they aimed at my shoulders… and didn't follow me down the hill to finish the job."

Quinn blinked. Ellie slow sat up as green sparkles began to shower out of her staff and over her wounds.

"Think about it. When you went to go and check on your friends, you said they shot at you. Not that they shot you."

Quinn nodded.

"Those guys are skilled. I saw it. I'm almost positive that if they wanted to, the two of us would be charred corpses."

The little fire elves nodded, jumping up and down. Quinn thought for a moment, then nodded himself.

"They still have a bit of their original consciousness inside of them." Ellie explained. "And that means that there's hope. If we can find a way to break the spell, we can save the fire elves."

The last of the healing spell fizzled away and Ellie stood up.

"So… Who should know what's wrong with the fire elves?"

"There's Gretta Darkkettle." He said. "She use to teach alchemy at the school several years back."

"Where is she?"

"Just down the street is her house. But be careful. The fire elves aren't the only things out there."

"Really? What else is out there?"

…..

Ellie jumped behind a wall just narrowly avoiding what looked like a molten ball of magma.

"Magma men." She said. "Snowmen made out of magma… Is that even possible?!"

She peeked out, only to duck back down to avoid another ball of magma. She looked up at the magma man in sheer confusion.

"I seriously doubt something like you should even exist." She said. "Then again, I'm in a city literally called Wizard City. The impossible happens all the time."

She jumped out from behind the fall, blasting the magma man. She aims at the hat, knocking it off. The magma man looks at its hat, then up at Ellie.

"I could have sworn that was how it worked with Frosty."

The magma man laughed and began to move towards her, some sort of strange knife in its hand.

"A knife?" she wondered. "Really?"

The Magma man threw the knife at her, and she quickly ducked, and the blade embedded itself into a tree. Ellie grabbed it and quickly threw it at the Magma man. It pierced right through him, knocking out what appeared to be a crystalized flame. The magma man melted, and Ellie blinked.

"Why did I do that?" she wondered.

Not questioning it, she merely shrugged and picked up the knife.

"Maybe this will come in handy."

She sticks it in her backpack and walks towards Ms. Darkkettle's home.

_Knock knock knock._

"Go away!" a voice that sounded like the Wicked Witch of the West called out.

Ellie hesitates, then reads the name above the door. Sure enough, she's at the right place. She knocks again.

"Didn't ya hear me? I said go away. I ain't comin' back and nothin' ye say can change that Ambrose!"

"I'm not Ambrose, Ms. Darkkettle." Ellie called out. "My name's Ellie, and I need your help."

The door creaked open slightly and a withered old woman poked her head out. Aside from the lack of green skin, she could have been the wicked witch of the west.

"What is it?" she barked.

Ellie flinched slightly, then explained.

"The fire elves are under some form of dark curse. Private Quinn said that if you had these arrows, you could figure out what was wrong with them."

Darkkettle opened the door some more and Ellie walked in. She held out the arrows and Gretta snatched them up.

"Heh." Gretta cackled slightly. "What Quinn knows about magic you most likely learned on your first day. I need something else to focus the spell with."

"Will this work?" Ellie asked holding out the knife from the Magma man.

"Perfect." She replied, snatching the dagger.

She carried them over to a large table covered in different vials of liquid and powder. Gretta placed the different items on the table and started mixing several powders together until she had a strange purplish powder. She sprinkled it onto the knife, then used the knife to cut the arrows open. Almost immediately, an ear-piercing screech emitted from the arrow. Ellie fell to the ground covering her ears as Gretta quickly doused the arrows in water, silencing the scream.

"That was a banshee wail." Ellie commented as she slowly stood up.

"Yep." Gretta replied. "And I know of only one that resides here on Firecat Alley."

"Oh?" Ellie asked.

"Bastilla Gravewynd. Very old and quite powerful. She resides in the large tower at the end of the Alley."

"What do I need to do?"

"I'll need a lock of her hair. Whether you take it from her corporeal form, or from her undead corpse, is up to you."

…..

Ellie found the tower with relative ease. It was the one part of the alley that did not seem to emit extreme heat. Instead, there was an unnatural cold.

"This is the place."

She stepped inside, only to be instantly greeted by an incredibly ugly banshee. However, rather than flinch in fear, Ellie met its gaze. The banshee, Bastilla, looked Ellie up and down.

"You…." She hissed. "You smell of my master's magic…. You are a Necromancer….."

Ellie nodded.

"You are quite powerful." She hissed again, floating away until she was no longer invading Ellie's personal space. "Not as powerful as my master… but with the potential to be…"

"Your master?" Ellie asked, though she already could guess the answer.

"Malistaire." Bastilla hissed. "The Master of Death, and future ruler of the spiral."

"And you're helping him." Ellie commented.

"Of course." She replied. "My master wishes for the city to crumble, but the wizards here have powerful allies, especially the fire elves. With their help, my master's plans would fail."

"That is why you cursed them." Ellie realized. "So they cannot aid the wizards when the city and the school fall."

"Yes. They will be powerless. They obey my will, and my will is for them to attack any resident of this accursed city."

Ellie made a note of that. The fire elves were forced to attack anyone who came too close. However, they had found a loop hole, which explains why they constantly missed, and when they did hit, the attacks were far from fatal.

"Soon, the undead will conquer this city, and nothing can stop it!"

_Snip_

Bastilla froze suddenly and turned around. Ellie had a small pair of scissors in one hand, and a small bottle she was currently stuffing several grey hairs into.

"What is this?!" Bastilla demanded.

Ellie corked the bottle and dropped it into her backpack. She then smiled.

"I probably should have introduced myself earlier." She said. "My name's Ellie. Ellie Blood."

Bastilla shrieked in anger.

"You're the one who has been interfering with my master's plans!"

"Guilty as charged."

"You… I will send your mutilated corpse back to Ravenwood as an example of what will happen to those who oppose my master!"

She opened her mouth to scream, but was quickly interrupted by a death blast right in her huge mouth. She began choking on it, trying to emit the scream.

"Sorry about that." Ellie said in a tone that was anything but apologetic. "But I kind of like being able to hear."

The Banshee swiped at her angrily, but Ellie intercepted the blow with her staff. She then twisted it, whacking the Banshee in the face as well as blasting her again. Bastilla tried to scream again, but the orb of death in her throat kept the scream from being emitted. Ellie could see Bastilla form beginning to slightly expand and she smiled.

"Hey Bastilla." Ellie taunted. "Has anyone ever told you how ugly you are?"

Bastilla tried to scream again, and all it did was make her expand more.

"I mean, I thought those trolls I fought before were ugly, but boy was I wrong. You are by far the ugliest thing I have ever seen."

Another failed scream. She was significantly larger too. Ellie needed one last push to make her pop.

"It makes me wonder. Legends say that Banshees wail whenever a person is about to die. My guess is that all the ones you wailed for died of fright when they saw your ugly mug."

Bastilla let out another angry wail, and that did the trick. She suddenly exploded, spewing the entire tower with ectoplasm. The built up screams shook the building as Ellie covered her ears. Eventually, the screeching died down and Ellie uncovered her ears. She couldn't hear all that well and she could see blood on her hands from her ears.

"That's gonna be annoying." She thought.

Still, she had what she needed, so she left the tower and made a bee line for Gretta's home.

…..

"Oh good. You got the hair." Gretta greeted her at the door.

Ellie looked at her in confusion, then tapped her ears. Gretta saw the trails of blood and shook her head.

"I thought I heard the mother of all banshee wails coming from that tower." She commented. "Don't worry, your healing will return. Just give me the hair and I'll make the cure."

Gretta held out her hand and Ellie gave her the vial of hair. As Gretta went to work, a fairy popped out of Ellie's staff. It flew towards her and laid a gentle kiss on both her ears. She heard a popping sound, and suddenly her hearing was back. The fairy waved, then vanished. And just in time too.

"Here we go." She said, handing her a potion bottle. "All you need is to find out which elf is the first elf to be cursed, give him this potion, and you'll be able to reverse the effects of the curse."

"Thanks Gretta." Ellie replied.

"No problem dearie." She said. "Just be careful out there."

"Will do."

Ellie left Gretta's home and Gretta closed the door. Her old face seemed lost in thought.

"She seems so familiar… I wonder if I knew her before I left the school."

…..

"Quinn!" Ellie called. "I have a cure!"

Quinn and Feebo turned to Ellie and were both instantly happy. Feebo leapt into the air laughing loudly.

"Great job Ellie." Private Quinn said. "How does it work?"

"I just need to find the first elf that was cursed, give him the potion, and then the elves will be free."

"That would be Alicane Swiftarrow." Quinn explained. "He's the leader of the Fire Elves. It stands to reason that he would have been the first to be cursed."

"Do you know where he is?" she asked.

Feebo tugged on her skirt again. Ellie looked down and she saw him gesturing for her to follow him. Ellie looked over at Quinn.

"I guess he knows." She commented.

"Both of you be careful." Quinn said. "Please."

Ellie nodded, then followed Feebo up the hill. He gestured for her to be quiet and hopped behind her, his weapon appearing in his hand. His smile turned into a frown, and Ellie immediately caught on. If he pretended to be cursed, Feebo could get her past the other elves without any trouble. She clutched her staff and immediately put on the fearful captive persona.

Feebo marched her passed the hoards of Fire elves, down the street, right up to the large theatre.

"So this is Fireglobe theatre." She whispered.

Feebo nodded, and Ellie took a step forward. She opened the doors, and there in the center of the theatre was Alicane. He looked just like the other fire elves, but his robes were pure yellow. He met Ellie's eyes, but did not move. Ellie entered the theatre and Feebo closed the doors.

"Are you Alicane Swiftarrow?"

The fire elf nodded once, but still did not move.

"My name is Ellie Blood, and I'm not here to hurt you."

Alicane immediately drew his bow and aimed at her. However, despite this threatening gesture, she could see his eyes. They were pleading for her to help.

"If you can understand me, shoot at my feet."

An arrow suddenly exploded at her feet. Ellie smiled as he loaded another arrow. He was under the curse, but he could still see what was going around him. She reached slowly into her backpack and pulled out the potion.

"This will cure you of the curse. I know you won't be able to willingly drink this, so I apologize for what I am about to do."

She suddenly pulled out her staff and blasted Alicane. Black tendrils wrapped around him, lifting him into the air. He struggled against the tendrils, screaming at her incoherently. However, his eyes were clearly telling her to hurry. She came forward and uncorked the potion. She gently took his face and poured the potion into his mouth. He shivers as the potion takes effect, then he closes his eyes and stops moving.

"Are you alright?"

Alicane opened his eyes and smiled.

"That I am." He replied. "Thank you."

Ellie blinked.

"You can talk?"

"Yes… all of my people can."

"Feebo didn't talk." Ellie said.

"Sorry about that." Feebo suddenly said.

Ellie turned to see the elf that had helped her waving at her.

"The first order Bastilla gave us was that we were not to say a word. I was lucky and escaped before she gave any other order." Feebo explained.

"I thank you so much for breaking the curse." Alicane said.

Ellie lowered him down onto the ground and released him from the tendrils.

"Don't thank me." She said. "Private Quinn is the one who wouldn't give up on you. He insisted you were cursed."

Alicane smiled again.

"I am so happy to have a friend like Quinn." He said. "We will go and celebrate our freedom, and you will always be remembered."

The fire elf leapt up and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Will you stay?" he asked.

"I can't." Ellie replied. "This is the fourth street that Malistaire's attacked and attempted to influence. I need to tell Professor Ambrose what happened here. He needs to be stopped."

Alicane nodded, then gave a deep bow.

"Go with the blessings of the fire elves." He said. "And may the titans forever watch over you."


	8. The Darkness of the Night

Ellie returned to Headmaster Ambrose's office quickly. He was working on some paperwork when she walked in, scratching quietly away with his quill.

"Headmaster?" she called as she knocked on his door.

He looked up and smiled as she walked in.

"Ah, miss Blood. I heard about your little escapade this morning." He said.

Ellie closed the door behind her and sat down in front of his desk.

"You did?"

"Yes." He replied. "Agatha Windbreaker and Jonathan Stormbrewer complained that you interrupted their card game following a fire elf."

Ellie blushed and rubbed the back of her head.

"Yeah… Sorry about that. Feebo was in a bit of a hurry."

Ambrose could sense that something was amiss and set down his quill.

"Tell me what happened."

Ellie quickly explained the events of Firecat Alley, how a banshee had cursed all of the fire elves so that they would be unable to aid Wizard City when the undead took over. He took the news surprisingly well, up until Ellie made a connection.

"Malistaire is behind all of these actions of the streets." She explained.

"I was afraid of that." Ambrose said with a shake of his head. "He will not stop until Ravenwood falls."

"But there's more." Ellie interrupted.

Ambrose blinked, then looked over.

"I think those were mere distractions, keeping us from figuring out why he was here the other day."

Ambrose nodded.

"I agree. I myself have been trying to figure out why he came here. When he left the first time, he made it quite clear he had no desire to return."

Ellie perked up with a sudden thought.

"And then there's what he said before he left. 'I have what I came for'…"

"You believe he took something."

"I know he did…. The question is… what was it?"

"I do not know Miss Blood… but perhaps time will tell."

Ellie shrugged, then changed the subject to something that could be handled more quickly.

"I think Malistaire may have some sort of agent, a powerful Necromancer or deathly creature under his command." Ellie said.

"I myself have come to the same conclusion."

"Thing is, I've taken out most of the nasties here in town." Ellie said. "And I don't know where else to look."

Ambrose thought for a minute, then he perked up.

"I do believe I have the answer."

"Huh?"

"Here at the library, we have an archive of all the creatures that call Wizard City home. It is constantly changing to include each new student Perhaps the archives will be able to tell us who Malistaire has left in charge of his nefarious scheme."

He stood up and grabbed his staff, and Ellie quickly followed. They walked down the street towards the large library. Inside, sitting behind the counter, was Harold Argleston, the Marleybonian librarian.

"Ah… Good day Ambrose." He said in a thick English accent. "How can I help you?"

"This young wizard and I require access to the Tower Archives."

Harold shook his head.

"I'm sorry professor, but I am afraid that I have misplaced the key to the tower. Last I heard, a dreadful spirit by the name of Foulgaze had it."

Ellie stepped forward.

"Where is Foulgaze?"

Harold blinked, then looked up at the Headmaster, who simply nodded. Harold was curious as to why this student, who had only been there for a hand full of days, seemed so full of confidence, but did not argue with it.

"Last I heard, he had some sort of hideaway in Olde Town."

Ellie smiled.

"Thanks Mr. Argleston."

She bolted out the door.

…..

After about twenty minutes, Ellie walked back into the library. She was wearing what appeared to be a white polo shirt with a loose red tie, a pair of jeans, and boots.

"Sorry I took so long. Foulgaze got a lucky shot and ripped my dress, so I had to pop back to my dorm and change."

Harold just stared, surprised that the young wizard seemed uninjured. He was even more surprise when she deftly tossed a small key onto his desk.

"Is this what you needed?" she asked.

Harold picked up the key. Sure enough, it was the correct key.

"Yes… Thank you young wizard."

He got up and walked up the stairs to the door to the Tower Archives. He unlocked the door and held it open.

"Let me know when you are done."

Ambrose nodded and led the way up the stairs, Ellie right behind him. When they entered the archives, Ellie was completely floored. There were walls covered up to the rafters with books. There were more books in the archive than Ellie thought were possible.

"Whoa…." She said. "This… this place is…. Wow."

"I doubt that there is a place with this many books that you have seen before." Ambrose said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Ellie just shook her head.

"No… No I haven't…"

Ambrose just chuckled, then began to look at the shelves.

"I will take this half here." He said. "You start on that side."

"Got it professor."

…..

Several hours had passed, and books were piled and stacked all over the room. Harold had brought up some snacks for the two, which had been quickly devoured. Ellie had learned a lot about Ravenwood students and faculty thanks to the books, and some of the facts quite surprised her.

"Hey Professor. Did you know that Dalia Falmea, the Fire Teacher, originally enrolled in the Ice school?"

"That I did not." He said. "How interesting."

Even the headmaster found some facts that surprised him.

"It appears here that Halston Balestrom was once charged with theft of a jade amulet from the Royal Museum in Marleybone."

"Whoa." Ellie commented.

"Apparently the charges were dropped after the true culprit was apprehended by a wizard, which inspired Balestrom to come here."

"That's cool."

Unfortunately, it seemed as if there would be no end to the books, and no end to their search for Malistaire's partner in crime. Until…

"FOUND IT!" Ellie exclaimed.

She pulled herself out of a pile of books, gripping a single black book in her hand. Headmaster Ambrose turned as she stumbled out of the books. She sat down at the one table not completely covered in books, and flipped it open.

"It says here that deep within the haunted caves, right at the edge of the misty cliffs, is a place called Stormdrain Tower. And residing inside is a creature by the name of-"

"Lord Nightshade." Ambrose interrupted.

Ellie looked over in surprise. Ambrose sounded grim… no… not grim… afraid.

"How bad is he?" she asked.

He flipped the page in the book, revealing the picture of a skinny creature cloaked entirely in black. It had a skull for a face, with glowing red eyes, bony hands, and large black wings sprouting from its back. Despite it only being an image, Ellie found herself shivering.

"Lord Nightshade is a Wraith." Ambrose explained. "And a very powerful one. He has haunted the caves since there discovery. We built the Stormdrain tower in an attempt to contain his power, but if he is the one behind these attacks, then I fear trapping him will not be enough."

"Then I'll go destroy him."

Ellie went to get up, but Ambrose caught her arm.

"No." he said. "Not this time."

Ellie blinked.

"What do you-?"

"It took all of the death magic we could muster to simply trap Nightshade. Imagine what it would take to destroy him."

Ellie pulled her arm free.

"I can do this." She insisted.

"Lord Nightshade is not an enemy I will willingly allow you to face." He insisted. "I will gather the teachers and we shall handle Lord Nightshade."

Ellie looked at him pleadingly.

"You have to let me do this."

"No. What I have to do is protect my students, and that includes you."

Ellie felt anger beginning to build inside of her.

"You told me that I was the only one who could save Wizard City. You said I was the only one with the power to stop Malistaire. But you won't let me do what you brought me here to do!"

"You are not ready." He said.

He prepared to walk away, but Ellie grabbed his staff.

"I'm sorry."

She yanked the staff from his hands, snatched the archive key, and took off down the stairs with both. She rode down the banister with Ambrose following her.

"Miss Blood!" he called.

She reached the tower archive door and slammed it shut, then quickly turned the key, locking him in. Ambrose reached the door, and knocked on it.

"Miss Blood. Please. If you go after him, you are condemning yourself to death."

Ellie stood there for a minute.

"You don't understand professor… I have to do this. I have to stop Malistaire… You can punish me for this later, but I'm going after him."

She dropped Ambrose's staff as well as the tower key, and took of down the street. Harold saw her as she ran, and knew something was off. He approached the tower door to see the key and Ambrose's staff lying on the ground.

"Oh dear…"

He scooped up the key and opened the door. Ambrose quickly picked up his staff.

"Gather the staff." He said. "We need everyone to the Haunted Caves at once. Summon the guards, and give immediate orders that Ellie Blood must not be allowed to enter the Haunted Caves."

…..

Ellie was halfway through the Shopping District when the order went out. A message was sent to everyone from shopkeepers to students.

"Urgent Message. All Staff is to report to the Haunted Caves. All Guards are ordered to be on high alert. If anyone spots Student Ellie Blood, they are to detain her at all costs!"

Ellie cursed the message, but didn't stop running. She couldn't afford to get caught.

Sergeant Muldoon saw her running down the street. He knew where she was headed, and knew she had to be stopped.

"Private Rosencranz, Private Guildenstern, block her path."

The two guardsmen quickly stepped in front of Ellie, their weapons raised to block her. However, she didn't need to take the path, she darted to the right and went right up to the edge of a fairly steep drop down to the archway to Triton Avenue.

"STOP!" Sergeant Muldoon called.

But Ellie didn't hear him. She jumped onto a small ledge at about the halfway point towards the ground, then jumped again, landing right on the sidewalk. The two guardsmen made a grab for her, but she was off again, running right through the archway.

…..

Susie, Duncan, and Arthur sat by the teleporter leading to the other end of the avenue. Ellie ran up to them.

"Guys, I need to get to the Haunted Caves."

Duncan stood up.

"I can only think of one reason why you would want to go in there, and that's to deal with Nightshade."

Susie jumped up.

"You can't go!" she cried. "You'll die."

"I beat the Harvest Lord." She said. "I beat Akilles, I beat Bastilla Gravewynd, and I've saved your brother. You have to believe I can do this!"

"You got lucky with the Harvest Lord." Arthur commented. "You got seriously lucky."

"Look. Just let me past."

All three of them shook their heads. Ellie could hear footsteps approaching. She was running out of time.

"Damnit…."

She tackled all three of them, and they all fell onto the transporter. The second they materialized, Ellie took off. The kids scrambled after her as the other teachers and guards began to show up. She could see them all running after her, but she kept going, knowing she had to time this perfectly. She ran for the open gate, and the second she stepped through, she slammed her staff into the ground, summoning a Death Shield. It completely covered the entire entrance to the Haunted Cave. She was trapped inside, and they were trapped outside.

"I'm sorry… but this is something I have to do."

Ellie disappeared into the darkness of the cave. Ambrose approached the shield, his heart filled with fear and dread.

"Everyone… We must tear down this shield. We cannot let her fight Nightshade alone."

Everyone began simultaneously blasting the shield, and Ambrose found himself praying that they could get it down in time.

…..

Ellie walked through the darkened streets of the Haunted Caves. Despite there being rows and rows of houses, Ellie didn't think anyone had lived here in the longest time. She guessed that after the Death School vanished, so did a majority of the Death Students.

The undead wandered the streets, but they paid her no mind. These did not appear to be dangerous. They seemed to just be milling around, as if waiting for orders.

Orders they would hopefully never receive.

Ellie made her way to the end of the street, where the cave opened up once more, and right in the center of the cliff, surrounded my an unnatural mist, was Stormdrain Tower.

"There it is….." she whispered.

She could feel a cold and evil presence about the place, and inside, she knew that a cruel being awaited.

_Elllllllllieeeee….._

Ellie jumped at the sudden sound of her name. It was as if the wind itself had said it. She looked around, but saw nothing. Suddenly, she heard a creaking sounds, and the doors to Stormdrain tower opened.

_Elllllllllieeeee….._

She was being invited in. She was expected.

Ellie gulped, then stepped forward, her grip on her staff so tight her knuckles were white. She stepped into the darkened tower, and the door slammed shut behind her. Black flames illuminated several candlesticks all around the room, and in the very center of the room stood Lord Nightshade.

_You… You are the one….. Who has foiled my plans for this world._

His mouth never opened, but Ellie could tell that this omni-present voice was Nightshade. His voice was like a cold wind on a Halloween night. It sent a chill down her spine.

"I... I am she."

Nightshade floated towards her, slowly circling her like a shark that smells blood.

_You are afraid…_

It was not a question.

"N-not of you." She said.

_Yesss…. Not of me… There are many things that scare you… Many fears that haunt your nightmares…_

A bony hand caressed her cheek and Ellie had to fight the urge to recoil.

_You fear your power… which steadily grows… You fear your family… and what they will think of you should they learn… and you fear…._

Lord Nightshade stopped for a moment, as if intrigued. Ellie stiffened, wondering what the Wraith had seen.

_You fear the truth… the truth about yourself…. The truth about your heritage… the truth about your connection to-_

"ENOUGH!"

Ellie blasted Nightshade with a ball of death right in the face. However, he seemed to simply absorb it. He seemed to chuckle as he batted Ellie to the side with a simple flick of the wrist.

_Anger… just fear in disguise…_

Ellie pulled herself to her feet and grabbed her staff. She swung the staff like a bat, sending a ball of death energy towards Nightshade. He merely absorbed it again, chuckling once more.

_Pathetic child… I am a creature of death… a master of darkness…. Your spells have no effect on me._

He grabbed her by her throat, pinning her to the wall. He pointed at her and made a beckoning motion with his hand. Ellie could feel something in her being pulled out. Suddenly, her vision began to blur as pain erupted everywhere. Soon though, her toes began to grow numb… then her fingers… slowly, the numbness began to crawl up her body towards her heart.

He was pulling out her soul.

_When I am through with you, I will send your soulless corpse to those you foolishly locked out. They will see what your failure has brought, and what their fates will be._

Ellie could feel herself slipping away. However, mere seconds before completely passing out, she heard a hissing sound. Suddenly, Nightshade screamed and released her. She fell to the ground as feeling suddenly returned to her body. She gasped and sat up, holding her chest. She could see green sparkles flying around Nightshade's hand, and they were burning him.

Green sparkles… Life magic

_What is this? You are a Necromancer, Not a Theurgist!_

"Yeah… Not exactly."

Ellie leaned against the wall and stood up.

"You see… I can do both."

_That is impossible! No one can control to opposing classes of magic!_

"This is Wizard City. The impossible happens every day."

Ellie picked up her staff and focused. She had used life magic for healing, but had never thought to use it in combat. She didn't even know if it was possible, but she had to try. She swung the staff again, but this time, the end swirled with green energy, and when it struck Nightshade, he screamed.

_HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS!_

Ellie didn't answer. She just blasted him another time. He screamed and attempted another grab. She ducked out of the way and swung again. He screamed more, and Ellie could hear what sounded like bones cracking.

"Hey Nightshade."

He turned to her, the skull he had for a face cracking.

"See you in the afterlife."

One final blast, and Nightshade screamed so loud it shook the building. Ellie turned away as he disintegrated, bits of black cloth and bone dust flying everywhere. Ellie smiled, but then everything got fuzzy. She hadn't realized how much damage Nightshade had done to her. Her soul wasn't fully back in place yet. She was weak. She stumbled to the ground, her staff slipping out of her weakening grip, and she embraced the blackness of unconsciousness.

…..

The shield had not fallen no matter what anyone had thrown at it. Ambrose was beginning to fear that they would not bring it down in time.

Suddenly, an unearthly scream was heard throughout the caves. Everybody froze at the sound. The students did not know what it meant, but the teachers did.

"What was that?" Duncan asked.

"It wasn't human, that's for sure." Susie replied.

The teachers all looked at each other.

"Is it possible?" Lydia Greyrose, the teacher of the Ice School wondered.

"Is he really gone?" Arthur Wethersfield asked.

"Is who gone?" Arthur Gryphonbane asked.

"Nightshade…" Cyrus Drake muttered.

Suddenly, the Death shield rippled, then waved, and then suddenly vanished.

"Uh-oh." Ambrose muttered. "That shield was dispelled because its caster is no longer conscious."

The guards ran into the caves first, followed closely by several teachers. The students waited at the entrance of the cave, praying that Ellie was okay. After what felt like hours, the guards returned, and in Sergeant Muldoon's arms was Ellie.

"ELLIE!" the screamed.

"She's alright." He said. "Just weak."

"Take her to the medical ward immediately." Ambrose ordered. "And summon Moolinda. She's got quite a job to do tonight."


End file.
